Rented To Be
by myfailsafe
Summary: AU. Your friends order you a blonde bombshell for a month, which you don't want in the first place and then, shows up, and just so happens to be male. Typical. Influenced by 'Absolute Boyfriend'. Future SasuNaru
1. Paid For a Dream

Chapter One – Paid For a Dream

Author's Notes: I know I'm supposed to be working on my other fictions, I know I know. I get it (I'm also supposed to be cleaning my house…). But I had this idea in my head and I couldn't get it out. I just couldn't. So, here we go…yet again.

Warnings: Well…there is obviously going to be boy/boy in my fiction. I have that tendency. So sorry. I have this thing for foul language. And OOCness is my best friend. I also have a not-so-secret affair with spelling errors and grammar mistakes. Bask in my screw-ups.

Disclaimer: I don't own it. At all. What a fucking shock.

Rating: I rate by the chapters as a sweet little common courtesy that most don't deserve.  
– This chapter: K+ because I have a foul mouth. Dear crackers.

Chapter One – Paid For a Dream

* * *

"You know Uchiha, most people go out on their night off."

A midnight gaze came to land on the tall man before him. Tall and bored looking, his brunette ponytail high on his head.

"You know Nara, I don't see you walking out the fucking door!" The other male shot back.

The man laughed, walking the length of the couch that his roommate was sitting on, and deciding to occupy the other end.

"Yeah Sasuke, but you were always special."

Sasuke turned his head towards the other male, wisps of long raven blue-black bangs smacking at his face at the quick ministration, "Don't you have _something_ else to do, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru smiled lightly towards the television, settling down into the couch, and propping his feet up onto the coffee table that sat conveniently in front of them.

"Do I ever?"

"Cloud watching."

"It's nine at _night_." Shikamaru made to grab at the remote, but Sasuke snapped out a punch to his arm.

"Go bug Chouji."

"Out of town."

Sasuke sighed, crossing his arms over his chest and reaching one hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose, "Then why me?"

Shikamaru smiled, "Because you're not that troublesome. You're more boring than anything else, really."

Sasuke shot the other a glare before he turned back to his show, which really wasn't anything special. He just turned the television on for comfort, a background noise. It turned out he turned it on to some cheesy reality show with a bunch of poor, pathetic women who were fighting for the 'love' of some asshole.

God he needed to get out more.

"You need to get out more," Shikamaru commented dryly as he made a face towards the television.

"Anything else?" Sasuke bit out.

"Get a woman. Maybe you won't be such a prick."

"I hate you, so much." Sasuke mumbled dryly.

"Awe, gee, thanks. Love you too."

They didn't really address it that much after that.

Sasuke getting out much, or the male getting a woman.

The two men went about their lives like any other twenty-one-year-old males. They went to school when classes called for it, went to work when the rest of the free time was available, and avoided each other the rest of the time.

The avoiding was mostly on Sasuke's part.

Shikamaru had a tendency to bring friends of theirs over from school. The group usually hanging out and having a few drinks and ordering a pizza and talking about mindless nonsense all night till they all fell asleep. So Sasuke usually made up one excuse or anther to just stay in his room if the time arouse that he was stuck at home with all of them.

Until that very fateful - or what he recalled as fatal – day occurred.

"Hey! Uchiha! What's up, working whore."

Sasuke sighed as he opened the door to his apartment, not even a full step in, and already hearing the calls from his friends that he wanted to kick in the face.

"Kiba, can't you choke on something and die already?" Sasuke slung his tie over the back of the unoccupied recliner. The recliner that didn't match either couches. The two couches that didn't match each other.

The young man scoffed, "Here I am, trying to plan something for _your_ birthday-"

"I'll kill you…"

"And you have the audacity to want me to die." The young man called from the floor, a piece of pizza swinging wildly in his hands, and a wolfish grin spread across his face.

Another male reached over a ruffled his short, butchered brunette hair, "It's nothing big deal Sasuke, don't worry your blood pressure over it."

"Chouji, don't you start too."

The chubby male grinned, his plumed cheeks pulling up and crinkling his eyes, "It's so fun."

Sasuke's eyes landed on a pair of sunglasses and a hooded head, "And Shino, can you stop looking like a common thug when you leave. You scare the hell out of our neighbors. It's ten o'clock at night."

"Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered.

"Give me one more fucking 'troublesome' and you'll see how troublesome I can be," Sasuke shot to his roommate.

"I was just _commenting_," Shikamaru started, "on how you don't even know what we got you for your birthday."

Sasuke was halfway to the kitchen, intent on getting something to drink and praying they had something less greasy than what Kiba was eating. It tasted good, but it just made him want to vomit thirty minutes later.

"Alright, fine, I'll bite. What?"

The room broke out in dark, broken chuckles that actually gave the brave and fearless Uchiha chills.

Shikamaru waved him forward, "Come on."

"Nope."

"You need to see the pamphlet."

Sasuke's mood somewhat brightened. He figured that his somewhat asshole friends just might have gotten him something worthwhile. Maybe a trip away from this dump. Anywhere was better than here.

The raven took a few daring steps forward, hurtling the couch and flopping down next to his roommate who smiled at him.

Sasuke _hated_ that smile.

It was a smile that said 'I know something you don't' and 'you're going to murder me in my sleep' and just perhaps 'God help you'.

"What did you do?" Sasuke finally asked in a surrendering tone.

Laughs popped in the room, sounding to Sasuke, like gunshots.

"Take a look."

The male grabbed the folded paper from the middle of the table, obviously the center of attention, before setting it into a waiting pale hand with a chuckle.

Sasuke's eyes fell on the front and instantly, if at all possible, he paled.

Two girls, beautiful beyond comparison, stood there posing.

In all their naked glory.

"I swear if you bought me a stripper I will kill you…" The man ground out through clenched teeth.

Kiba sputtered through a laugh, "Even better, just read-"

"If you bought me a 'high-class' prostitute, I'll slit your fucking throat."

The room rang out in a chores of loud glorious laughter, that had Sasuke thinking he was somewhere close.

Sasuke opened the pamphlet and instantly wondered how quickly he could kill himself.

Really, a paper cut down his wrist could work if he went over it enough.

The words of the bright and bold headliner made Sasuke feel like someone just kicked him in the gut

"Did you assholes really do this?" Sasuke asked in a dead tone, glaring at the paper.

It would catch on fire if he stared at it long enough.

It just had too.

Kiba clapped him on the back, "Yes, we did. And you, good sir, are going to enjoy it."

Sasuke glared, "Kiba…you _rented_ a _woman_ and I'm supposed to _enjoy_ that? Did the thought of prior _use_ come into thought?"

Shikamaru smiled as his eyes focused on nothing, "She does housework. No cleaning for a whole month."

Many things could grind on Sasuke's nerves.

Many things.

But today, his 'friends' decided to test how far they could push him.

Today was the day they found out Uchiha's don't take certain things to lightly.

"So let me get this fucking shit right, Nara. You _rented_ me a bitch for a fucking month so your lazy ass doesn't have to lift a fucking finger around this damned place…LIKE USUAL!?"

The other man smiled gently, "Yes, a little bit."

"I'll fucking _kill you_." Sasuke ground out through clenched teeth before the rest of the group held him back when he tried to pounce.

"Hear us out, Uchiha."

"Fuck you, Chouji!"

Shikamaru laughed when he stood from the couch, "Isn't he cute when he's angry?"

Sasuke jolted under the grasps of his friends, but failed to escape.

"It's just a rental, dude. Chill. And we _thought_ about the used part." Kiba huffed as he shoved on his shoulders.

"That's supposed to make it better?" Sasuke bit out.

"We can order you a mail order bride."

"Please, for the love of anything that could possibly love you back, stop your thought processes."

"Does that mean your giving in?" Shikamaru called from the fridge.

"Do you really think I will?"

"Eventually. I am your roommate."

"Not to mention we already paid."

One kick after the other, and lower and lower they went.

"For the whole month?"

"Whole month." Shino confirmed.

There it was. The lowest kick any man could get. The one shot in the balls.

The stomach clenching, vomit inducing, cry for a straight hour, shot in the balls.

Okay, fair enough, he could play too. Sasuke relaxed under the hands that held him, his roommate still a safe distance away.

"Well, if I don't like her, we could always-"

"Sorry, she's here for the full month." Kiba shrugged as he hopped onto the couch.

Sasuke took a calming breath, "Well, in that case, one of you-"

"It's a _gift_!" Chouji said indignantly. "Don't re-give it!"

Sasuke ground his teeth together to stop himself at saying something else about a _rented_ woman as a gift.

"The money…" Sasuke tried to reason.

"Your attitude…" Shino reasoned back in his usual dead tone.

Apparently everyone thought his attitude was due to lack of a counterpart.

"Fine!" Sasuke growled, "When does this beast of burden get here?"

Sasuke was going to ask for double shifts and have to lock himself away as a tutor at the writing center at school. If they weren't going to cave in getting rid of this absolutely ridiculous idea, he was going to avoid it to the fullest extent.

"Beast of burden…as in your brother?" Shikamaru was still staring into the fridge as if something new would appear.

"Please, don't make this any worse than it is."

"He helped pay." Shino commented in a monotone voice.

"So he knows."

Kiba nodded, "Yeah, obviously."

Sasuke groaned, his head falling forward into his waiting palms.

A knock came to the door, a booming cheer coming from Kiba, "Sweet! Pizza guy!"

The pale raven removed his face from his hands, "How many pizza's have you people ordered?"

"This would be the third."

Shikamaru was still staring into the refrigerator, "Sasuke, get that?"

"Are you cripple?"

"At the moment."

Sasuke sighed, mumbling threats under his breath before snatching money off the table, and wondering how much torture he could inflict on this innocent pizza guy.

The raven practically ripped open the door.

Not the pizza guy.

It was a guy though.  
Golden blonde hair, closest thing to the sun on the earth, and sky blue eyes, like you were touching it. This guy was smiling, and Sasuke could silently give this man the benefit of the doubt, he had a bright smile that was downright dazzling. His skin was like a bronzed trophy, and whoever belonged to him certainly won something.

But this man, who was standing a few inches shorter than Sasuke, smiling like he knew something that he didn't; picked the wrong damn day and the wrong damn time to show up at his door.

"Can I help you?" Sasuke shot in a venomous tone.

"I'm looking for Sasuke Uchiha."

At this point, his roommate and friends had gathered around. In search of pizza and hoping they didn't have to bury a body.

"You know 'em?" Kiba asked quietly, peeking over Sasuke's shoulder.

"The only people I choose to know are you fucks." Sasuke hissed.

The male brightened in the hallway, "Oh! So you're Sasuke."

The raven nodded once, stiffly.

The man smiled even brighter, it reaching his eyes, "I'm Naruto."

"You want a fucking medal? Get off my doorstep."

Sasuke made to close the door, his friends behind him exchanging curious glances and mouthed words of confusion.

"But!" Naruto stopped the door from shutting with his hand, "Wait!"

Sasuke yanked the door open one last and final time in his opinion, almost hitting Shikamaru, "Five fucking seconds. Four! Before I kill you."

"I'm Naruto. I'm from Create a Dream."

Sasuke recalled the pamphlet he tried to send in flames with nonexistent mind powers, "Please tell me you're here to take care of this."

Sasuke was insinuating, of course, the insane idea his friends cooked up. The insane idea his friends came up with of renting him a 'girlfriend' for a month. He was hoping that maybe someone had a bad credit card, and they sent someone to take care of it. Tell them in person that they were, for lack of a better word, screwed.

The blonde smiled brightly, "Of course, Sasuke. For a month, I'll take care of whatever you want."

* * *

Author's Notes: I think I watched too much Absolute Boyfriend. XD


	2. An Innuendo for an Insult

**Chapter Two** – An Innuendo for an Insult

**Author's Notes**: **Firstly**, the feedback was pretty fun. It's pretty amazing how many people still want to read what I write. Crazies.  
**Secondly**, it seemed like a number of people were asking about the 'watching Absolute Boyfriend' comment. It's a live action drama, not an anime, and I actually lost the link to the site I used to visit. Google is everyone's best friend.  
**Thirdly**, and most importantly, this isn't a humor fiction. I'm stating that _right now_. Yes, humor is going to pop up, but I just can't stay funny all the time. Readers (no offence) are too demanding when it comes to humor. SO, if you thought this was going to be funny, you might want to bail.

**Warnings**: I'm going to mention the word God from time to time and I don't mean it as an offence to anyone, so if you see it pop up, don't be angry. Foul Language. Bad attempt at humor.

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing.

**Rating**: B for Bullshit? No? K+? I don't know.

**Chapter Two** – An Innuendo for an Insult  
(Not edited, sorry)

* * *

Sasuke wasn't really sure who he should hit first.

Shikamaru, who was currently in between laughing and confusion. Or the smiling blonde who had just pulled his bags into view, signaling his stay.  
I  
f his other friends weren't holding him back, he'd just hit them both.

"What in the _fuck_ is this?" Sasuke hissed.

The blonde grinned, answering a question that was directed to anyone but him, "Anything you want it to be."

"Shikamaru!"

The man was chuckling, clutching his beer and fighting off tears, "I have _no_ clue."

Sasuke jerked to get out of the grasps of his so-called friends, "You got a _guy_?"

"Technically, we called and asked for a pretty blonde that was fresh on the team." Kiba corrected, biting his lip to fight off the laughter that was threatening to burst through.

"You fucking idiots didn't think to ask for a damnable _girl_?"

"So you _did_ want a girl."

"_NO_!"

Sasuke decided that life in prison was worth murdering everyone there.

"I'm not being pegged gay because you assholes don't know how to place an order!"

Kiba lost control of battling with keeping his laughter at bay, "Come on Uchiha…it was so obvious, you being gay and all. They must have known with how we described you."

Sasuke barely held in the groan.

He could hear Kiba's voice in his head reading off from a list his friends made.  
_  
'Yeah…What's he like? Well he has this gay slick back hair that I think for styling consists of a car battery and sixty gallons of hair gel, but he's sweet enough to leave his bangs alone. His skin's pale because the asshole doesn't ever see the light of day. His personality? How much do you like snakes? Cold blooded and has a thing for hiding under rocks till he wants to kill.'_

"So, where will I be staying?" The blonde clapped his hands and rubbed them together in anticipation.

"In the fucking hallway."

Sasuke kicked the bottom of the door, listening to the resounding snap with a smirk, and didn't even bother listening to the protests of his friends.

"Shino, if you open that fucking door I will _give_ the police a _real_ reason to show up at the complex tonight." Sasuke warned as he began walking away, his friend's hands fallen from holding him.

Shino's hand paused a few inches from the door handle, looking in between all the others with a questioning look before a series of knocks came on the door.

Sasuke barely had his bedroom door shut and locked before he heard the voice ring out through the apartment of the pizza man announcing his arrival. He could hear his friends open the door and fight over payment.

Then he heard the devil chiming in as well.

The idiot blonde.

The dobe.

"Oh! I can have some too? You don't have ramen? Pizza's fine."

He managed to get inside.

Fuck.

* * *

Sasuke didn't get many days to just sit at home.

All day, to just take a break and relax.

He was working full time, and going to school full time, and it just never seemed to work to come home and relax with an annoying roommate and pestering friends.

Today was supposed to be his day.

The day he _finally thought_ he got to sleep in, lay in bed till he just felt like getting up, and finally dragging himself to the shower only to get back out and lounge on the couch.

Not today.

Today, he felt something _jump_ onto him, or at least he assumed 'jump on' by the sheer fact that some large amount of weight suddenly found it's way on top of him, waking him.

Which was _very_ bad considering Sasuke was _not_ a morning person.

Pale eyelids flew open to be greeted by the fresh, early morning sun that was screaming in through his open window. The only window in his room that had the blinds shut, that he swore he taped the damn blinds down.

Midnight eyes blinked away the harsh brightness, trying to find out what this sudden weight was to notice a bed tray lying across him sweetly, the blonde smiling down at him cutely.

"Breakfast in bed?" Sasuke questioned coldly, looking the blonde up and down.

Naruto was wearing a bright orange shirt, a few black words littering the front, a pair of black jeans sweetly hanging off his hips.

"Would you rather I be naked?" Naruto questioned as he reached for the hem of his shirt.

"NO!" Sasuke lurched upward to stop the blonde, and instantly spilled the tray all over his blanket and himself.

Midnight eyes landed a few things he didn't like and _felt_ a few things he wasn't happy about in the least.

He could see the orange stain of the orange juice that he felt on his now soaked crotch, he could see milk and felt it seep through his blanket onto his left leg, and he saw syrup on his blanket where his hands had just happened to land.

Sasuke breathed out a quick breath roughly in some form of a way to calm himself, "What in God's name made you think I wanted you naked?"

Sasuke threw the blanket off himself then, flinging the tray off to smack the wall and have the dishes smash against the hardwood floor.

Naruto's face had fallen, but instantly brightened after Sasuke had thrown back the sheets, "Would you rather I get in bed with you?"

"I'd rather you drop dead!"

Naruto paused, looking towards the wall that had been scoffed by the tray and trying to look over the bed to see the newly made mess of dishes on the ground. Naruto's bright blue eyes landed on a wet and sticky Sasuke, who looked beyond furious.  
"I could clean you off." Naruto smiled.

"I could kill you." Sasuke mocked with a glare.

"Do you want me to start your shower?"

"Are you going to go drown in it?" Sasuke turned to sit on the edge of his bed, his syrup soaked hands leaving prints.

"I was actually planning to wait for you in there, naked. Unless you prefer a tie?" Naruto continued to smile brightly, his tone casual.

Sasuke sighed, stopping himself from running his hands through his hair, "Of course you were."

"Would you prefer I clean up in here? And then get naked?"

"I just want you to answer _one_ fucking question, dobe," Sasuke snapped, standing up, "What is this fucking fascination with being _naked_?"

Naruto shrugged, his smile still bright, "To be prepared."

Sasuke's eyes shrunk into a glare, "Being prepared for what?"

"Your birthday gift, of course."

Sasuke shook his head, hearing his friends chuckle from outside the cracked door, "Clean this crap up, dobe."

"Then we'll have sex?"

"We'll just see how far I can ram your head up your own ass." Sasuke marched out of his room and watched his friends scatter.

It was easily decided after that, that he _wasn't_ staying home.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"No!"

"But!"

A sigh came from somewhere in the group and it didn't take a scientist to know it came from one Sasuke Uchiha.

"Look, bitch, we're doing it."

"Look, freak, we're not."

Sasuke's eyes shifted to the large male next to him, the silent one of the group, who gave him a sympathetic look.

"Karin, Suigetsu, stop…" Sasuke tried.

"I don't give a shit what you have to say, fucker."

"You think I want to listen to your prissy ass blabber on? It's just going to wind down to being about Sasuke in the end anyway. What a wonderful presentation that would be."

The girl stood quickly, her frames slipping slightly, "You son-of-a-"

"Alright!" Sasuke smacked one palm down flat on the table, stopping Suigetsu from standing up to face Karin, who instantly flopped back down in her seat.

"I'm not even _supposed_ to be here today. I'm not supposed to be looking at your damn faces and hearing that disgusting noise you call voices."

"Well, someone's on the rag…" Suigetsu crossed his arms and gave a crooked smile as he slouched in his seat.

"Juugo, give me one damn good reason I should stay in this group…" Sasuke glared at Suigetsu sharply making the boy's grin grow daringly.

"Because we're the last group left open," Juugo said for what had to be the seventeenth time in two hours.

Sasuke cursed under his breath, taking his glare off of the awkward looking boy and looked down at the stack of papers in front of him, completely ignoring the adoring looks from Karin.

Sasuke took in what was supposed to be a deep calming breath and let it out, "If you two keep fighting like that, I'll take a failing grade."

"So what made you get up on the wrong side of the bed?" Suigetsu leaned forward on the table, a large crooked smile present.

"The same thing that's going to make me drag your lifeless carcass to the river after I kill you."

Suigetsu let out a low whistle, "Alright, I get it. Mean, angry, Uchiha. He bites. Do not pass go. Whatever. So what do you say? What's the project on?"

The reminder on Sasuke's cell phone started buzzing intently, the raven sighing his relief, "It's Juugo's call. E-mail me and tell me the decision."

Sasuke grabbed his stack of papers as he stood swiftly and practically ran out of the school library before his group could call him back.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"You're late. Didn't you _ask_ for these hours?"

Sasuke sighed, slipping on an apron as he looked over at his boss, "I know. And yes."

"Where is Suigetsu?"

"He's not scheduled for another hour, Tsunade."

Sasuke turned to face a rather large breasted, blonde haired, fierce looking woman and owner of his place of work, "Sorry, it's just he's so stuck up your ass I'd expect to see his arm  
poking out."

The raven sighed, "I can't drag him in here early. He's finishing up some things for school."

"Well, with my two worst waiters on tonight, I suppose I shouldn't push my luck. Try not to lose your temper tonight. Please."

"I know I'm not your best waiter…"

"I just said worst…"

"But please give me some slack."

Tsunade raised a delicate brow, "What did you do?"

"Nothing." Sasuke knotted his apron tighter than he intended while he tried to keep a casual voice.

"I'm sure, 'nothing'. Is that why Itachi came in here whistling like he just hit the jackpot? What happened?"

Sasuke's eyes turned sharp, "You let that weasel walk out of here _alive_?"

"Are you two fighting again?"

"Tsunade, when you were in college, what was the worst thing your friends ever did?"

The blonde opened her mouth before hesitating, "Well…you know Jiraiya. He took me to this place in Vegas. You can buy any girl you want and have your way with her, a 'classy' whore house."

Sasuke's face pulled in one direction of being horrified, and pulled in the other direction of disgust.

"I kicked him so hard," She chuckled while she stared off dreamily, "Well, he hasn't walked right since."

Sasuke snorted, "When you see my brother and my friends cripple, you might get the hint."

"Mail order bride?"

"So close it scares me."

* * *

Sasuke rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand while entering his apartment after unlocking the door.

The day had been longer than expected.

Tsunade was hell on Earth, like usual. The customers were moronic assholes, like usual. The hours were horribly long, which he practically begged for. The restaurant was unnaturally dirty, but then again, he never volunteered to stay after and clean.

But he had never had some cheery blonde at home finding every possible excuse to get naked so they could have sex.

Sasuke sighed heavily at the horrible thought.

He was wondering if he should abandon all hope and just go stay in a hotel before swallowing some pride and begging Tsunde for a place on her couch.

Upon seeing Naruto cleaning, in an apron, and only an apron, it seemed like it was the only reasonable option left.

Because killing people that weren't around was impossible.

Naruto smiled brightly in Sasuke's spare work apron, a Lysol wipe in hand and no friends in sight, "Hey!"

Sasuke noted to burn his spare apron and get a new one.

"Can't you just crawl under the couch and just die already?"

Naruto's smile brightened a fraction, "Are you _coming_ with me?"

"Ha-ha," Sasuke drew, "How much are you getting paid to make a complete mockery of yourself?"

"Five thousand dollars a day and a twenty thousand dollar bonus if we fuck."

Sasuke paused in his ministration of taking off his jacket, stilling himself at the bored, business like voice that snappishly came out of this cheery little blonde.

Then Sasuke registered what he said.

"My friends paid _how much_?"

* * *

Author's Notes: -hums- Just _going_ through the motions. Just trying to get to some points. Yadda the ya.


	3. And the Rules Are Charming

**Chapter Three** – And the Rules Are Charming

**Author's Notes**: I'm kinda having fun writing this…even though my notes I wrote make _no_ sense. Ah… yes. Confusion.

**Warning**s: Nothing really. A few jokes and foul language.

**Rating**: A+ Because I want a fucking sticker. XD It's fine. I swear. Like, K+.

**Chapter Three** – And the Rules Are Charming

* * *

"So…What you're telling me is…" Sasuke was rubbing his temples, his eyes screwed shut, and Naruto on the other side of room, in pants.

In Sasuke's pants, of course, because the blonde refused to go get his own, or admit they were locked in Shikamaru's room where his stuff was being kept. So after the raven mixed up throwing a chair with the pants – on accident of course – Sasuke finally gave the blonde a pair of pants and ordered him to put them on.

"Your friends didn't pay that much, no. Did I get your hopes up about something?"

Sasuke snorted, "That maybe they'll go bankrupt and I'll never see them again? Yes."

Naruto shifted uncomfortably on the small wooden stool that Sasuke made him sit on, so he wouldn't try and pick it up and throw it at Naruto, while the blonde tried to explain every detail of his work.

"Okay…" Sasuke sighed, "Explain this one more time."

Naruto shrugged, "From where?"

"Who paid for what." Sasuke mumbled exasperatedly, and managing to turn the question into a statement.

"Your friends paid what is called the 'down payment', which is the _renta_l fee for the month. If you choose to _keep me_, which happens, you have to pay what the company pays me."

"Which is…"

"The five thousand a day."

Sasuke groaned when he did the math of thirty-one days, and thanked anyone and everything that he knew he wouldn't fall in love with a blonde idiot so it would cost him over a hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

Naruto ginned cheekily, "_And _twenty thousand dollars for sex…every time. I have to report to my manager every time we have sex, and twenty gets tacked on."

Sasuke contemplated getting on his hands and knees and thanking every deity known to man knowing he wouldn't have to pay _that_ much for falling in love with some man, that he had sex with.

Yeah. Fucking. Right.

"Can't you lie about it?" Sasuke asked through rare curiosity.

"He makes house calls once a week, my manager."

Sasuke blinked, "Your little keeper is coming _here_?"

Naruto shifted uncomfortably from atop the stool, "Did I forget to mention that?"

Sasuke glared, "Yeah."

"Oh. Well! Anyway… if something were to happen to me, you have to pay a fee. If you want to keep me, you have to pay the company the down payment _and_ what they were to pay me."

Sasuke was pinching the bridge of his nose, "So, if I want to keep you around, or something happens to your dumb ass, I have to fork out an ungodly amount of money? What the fuck is that shit?"

Naruto shrugged with a grin, "Yeah! So, if I get hurt, or I fall in love and you break my heart-"

"Time. The. Fuck. Out." Sasuke stood up, "If you fall in love with me, and I ship you back to your home planet, I get screwed out of _everything_?"

"And the twenty-five hundred your friends and brother threw down."

"How many people have faked that shit?" Sasuke deadpanned, seeing his college career waving goodbye, and hearing debt calling in a seductive whisper.

"None."

"Bullshit."

Naruto stood as well, the stool too uncomfortable, "We won't get anything if we fall in love."

"Wait. You don't get paid?"

"Not a dime."

"_Why_?" Sasuke was actually curious.

"Don't know." Naruto lied; it was inevitably going to come up in the conversation.

"Okay, what happens if the 'renter' falls in love with the…" Sasuke's face contorted awkwardly, "The product?"

"Refund and a pat on the back."

Sasuke snorted, "That's a little…rude." He admitted. "But what you said about keeping and all that shit."

Naruto nodded, "Just a little rude. Yeah, keeping for sex, housework, cooking and all that. The company has a zero tolerance for love with Charmers."

"Charmers?"

"Workers are categorized. Charmers are simply for sex with side stuff, like your friends ordered. If they wanted a bride or husband, they would have ordered The Mate."

Sasuke wrinkled his nose, "So. You, Mr. Not-So-Charming comes in, and does the things my friends ordered?"

Naruto nodded with a sweet smile.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, not noticing that he was pacing, "So, what idiot gave you the insane idea to just get naked and hope for the best?"

Naruto chuckled, "My manager. Your manager trains you before you leave."

"And this guy thought, you just get naked, flash a smile and say the dumbest things possible and I'll jump on you like nobody's business."

"Yeah. Kakashi is a little…weird."

"Or as dumb as you."

Naruto face pulled slightly, "Are you always so angry?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

Naruto's blue eyes rolled before continuing on, "I have to clean, and cook. But I'll be honest, despite all the classes, the best I can do is microwave something."

Sasuke sighed, "Better than cheep take-out."

"I'm also supposed to make an effort to get to know you so I can do things for you that you would like, or do things with you when you want me too."

"So you _have_ to do these things?" Sasuke was grimacing towards the floor.

"Yeah. Trust me; I'm not jumping up and down either."

Sasuke was looking towards the ground, looking now as if he was going to vomit all over it, "Please don't."

"Alright, teme. What's so turn-offish to you about this whole thing?" Naruto put his hands on his hips and glared toward the raven.

Sasuke could name _many_ things. The fact that there was a half-naked male discussing the rules of his job that just so happened to be having Sasuke renting him for a month was one.  
Naruto trying to come up with lame excuse after the other to get naked could just possibly be another. The fact that he was woken up by the blonde, yeah, that was still grating on his nerves. But hell, he'd just stick with what came to mind first.

"Maybe, just maybe, the idea that my so-called friends and brother _rented_ me someone to be my…" Sasuke struggled with the thought.

"Sex partner?"

"…And house bitch, it's just awkward."

Naruto snorted, "I hear you."

"If you aren't happy about it, why in the hell are you doing it?"

"Money."

Sasuke gave the blonde an odd look, "That's it?"

"Sure." Naruto lied again.

"Okay, now anything else? Like your manager friend? When does he come over?"

Naruto kicked at nothing on the floor, "Not sure. It's at random to make sure we aren't lying."

Sasuke stopped abruptly before turning his head slowly and glaring at the blonde before grounding out, "Anything. Else?"

"Everything I do with you is pretty important." Naruto said simply while placing himself strategically behind the couch.

Sasuke's eyes shrunk so small the black of his eyes almost disappeared, "Explain."

"Okay." Naruto shifted awkwardly, "So…new people in the company have to record everything."

"_Explain_." Sasuke hissed through his teeth. "I don't like feeling like a science experiment, dobe."

Naruto's mouth bobbed open and closed, knowing he wasn't supposed to say anything he had already said, and anything he was about to say.

"Well," Naruto cleared his throat, "You know those people who take those satisfaction surveys?"

Sasuke nodded stiffly once, "I hate them."

"What's new," Naruto mumbled, "It's kinda like that."

"If I have to say 'explain' one more fucking time…" Sasuke started advancing towards the couch, making Naruto back up.

"Okay! Geez, Mr. Serial Killer. First time workers have to be like a survey taker. Get information and see what's changed in the market and just get information for comparison to help do matching. So everything you say or do in regards to something I say and do, I have to record."

"Can you record me strangling you?"

"Would that count as kink?" Naruto sounded even half serious to his own self and smirked, till Sasuke started advancing towards the couch again with quicker steps.

"Sorry! Geez." Naruto waved his hands in front of his body defensively. "But seriously, is that a preference?" Naruto asked quickly.

Sasuke hurtled the couch and took off after the blonde as soon as Naruto took off out the front door to run for his life, and laughing like an idiot.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Sasuke was dragging Naruto back into the apartment by his arm; the raven scowling, the blonde grinning, and a random neighbor screaming her distaste in the background.

"RIGHT BACK AT YOU, MRS. STRINER!" Sasuke snapped the door closed and let go of the blonde's arm.

Naruto was still chuckling, pulling up the pants that threatened to fall off his slim waste of perfectly shaped hips, "Sorry about that."

Sasuke rolled black orbs, "You ran into the poor woman after you stepped on her cat, and said you'd make it up to her in bed."

Naruto shrugged with a grin, "She looked lonely."

"She's been married six times."

Naruto let out a low whistle, "Maybe too welcoming?"

"Bingo." Sasuke deadpanned as he walked towards the kitchen to grab a drink.

Sasuke glared at the clock on the stove that screamed at him, yelling sometime past midnight, which clicked something in Sasuke's head.

"Where the hell is Shikamaru?"

Naruto popped his head up from behind the open refrigerator door with a bright smile, "Staying with some girl named Topaz?"

"Temari?"

Naruto snapped his fingers together as he slung his arms over the door, "That's it!"

"Please, when you answer my phone because you just seem the type, use a damn notepad."

The blonde winked, "Of course." Naruto reached in and grabbed a soda before letting his arms retreat.

"So…" The blonde popped the tab and took a grateful swig.

Sasuke wasn't going to lie, he had a million questions, but he wasn't the type to ask and ask because that's just wasn't how he was. He already talked and questioned enough for one Uchiha lifetime. The raven took his bottle of water and walked back towards the couch while Naruto followed as a shadow.

He'd ask one final question – for now.

"I'm going to be daring and ask…but did my friends decide to be complete assholes and order a guy on purpose?"

Naruto snorted, "No. They didn't specify. They really did say they wanted a pretty little blonde that was new to the company." Naruto wiggle his eyebrows and made a sweeping gesture with his hands towards himself, "Since they didn't, Kakashi just sent me."

Sasuke grunted as he flopped back down on the couch, abandoning the bottle on the table, his face falling into his palms, "Hn."

Naruto grinned in confidence that he obviously always carried, "Guess we get to answer that age old question of 'Can we turn a straight man gay'."

Sasuke snorted, "Keep dreaming, dobe."

Naruto grinned as he walked around the sweet couch and unceremoniously flopped down as closely as he could next to Sasuke, his shoulder and thigh touching his, "You did read the name of the company, didn't you?" Naruto daringly nudged Sasuke.

Sasuke's head jerked up, his eyes peeking out from in between his fingers as he mentally recalled the name of the company.

'_Create a Dream'_

Sasuke mumbled into the palm of his hand as he knew the persistence that was going to be shoved in his direction the upcoming month.

"Shit."

* * *

Author's Notes: -Twirls- I like it. Yes, indeed.  
Shameless: AEOY and ALLTF need love.  
Review the chapter please, tell me what you think. It's always appreciated.


	4. Names Are Complex

**Chapter Four** – Names Are Complex

**Author's Note**: _After going over the reviews...I need to clear things up now.  
So, let's do this and have everyone jump off now before people complain even more.  
They aren't going to have sex yet. Sasuke doesn't even like Naruto, he thinks he's annoying…a pest. That would be beyond awkward.  
They __are__ going to fall in love, yep. That's why it's a romance.  
It __isn't__ going to be funny all the time, so I'm not going to do things to add to the humor, because then it would have been labeled differently.  
That's that. If you have questions, just put them in the review. I'm usually pretty nice._

**Dedication**: To Holly, for letting me get a bunch of crap off my chest.  
Thank you._  
_  
**Chapter Four** – Names Are Complex

* * *

Day Three   
Status: D-U-L-L! Dull.  
Personality: Killer (pun…_overly_ intended.)  
Excitement Level: Drooling…In. My. Sleep.  
Chemistry Level: Explosions…From gun shots.  
Sexual Experiences: Virgin material.

* * *

"I can't come with you?"

Sasuke turned with a sharp glare, his hand reaching for his coat before Naruto grabbed it first. The blonde quickly ran around to Sasuke's backside and to attempt to put it on the young Uchiha.

The raven turned to face the blonde and snatched his coat away, "_Don't_ do that."

"What?"

"Don't '_what_' me. I can put on a jacket, dobe."

The blonde shrugged, "So, why can't I come with you?"

"Because you _can't_." Sasuke sighed while he swung his jacket on smoothly.

"I heard that part, but can I get a reason?"

"This is for school. I have enough distractions." Sasuke glanced down at his watch.

Naruto blinked a few times, pushed out his bottom lip just the right amount and threw his arms behind his back to show off his prized puppy dog face.

"But teme, remember? I'm supposed to get to know you and your surroundings, that includes school."

Sasuke, on the other hand, glared, "You know, I've always wondered what sound a puppy would make when I kick it."

Naruto took a quick step back, wiping the look clean, "And you know, I'm starting to wonder what you'd be like after a round through anger management."

"Who knows what you'd be like after a wonderful trip through the first grade."

Naruto asked in disbelief, "Are you calling me dumb?"

Sasuke glance at the blonde as he opened the door, pulling his keys out of his jacket pocket with a smirk. "Well, dobe. Congratulations. You might advance for figuring that out alone."

Naruto opened his mouth to retort, but the raven had already walked out the door swiftly.

But the blonde wasn't one to give up so easily.

* * *

Sasuke looked around on the open library table for something sharp – anything – that he might be able to possibly kill himself with.

"I said _we_ aren't doing your stupid idea."

"The rest of _us_ agreed."

Sasuke turned to Juugo with a deep set frown, "Would that agreement have taken place between the two of you and without him?"

The other male turned and nodded his head mutely, his other eye on the pair that were bickering back and forth across the table.

"Alright…Sasuke! You decide." Suigetsu turned, his arms crossing his chest.

Karin turned, trying to blink prettily for him but coming off simply as she had something in both her eyes while Sasuke turned to give a pleading look to Juugo.

He didn't want to be the deciding factor.

Then he'd have to listen to bitching and complaining for the rest of his long and expensive college career; it wasn't worth the time, money or the migraine.

"I think-"

A large weight was suddenly thrown onto Sasuke's shoulders, causing the man to huff and connect roughly with the table in front of him and then try to jerk away from it.

"And _I_ think you forgot your lunch," A familiar, sweet voice called.

Sasuke looked to his right, a tan hand slung over his shoulder carelessly before turning to his left to see Naruto leaning over him, smiling sweetly.

Sasuke brought his hand up to his face, dragging it down to cover his mouth and groaned, which rolled into a growl, "What in the _hell_ are you doing here?"

Sasuke could hear the smile in the blonde's voice when he spoke, "You left your lunch. I just said that."

"Is he a friend of yours Sasuke-kun?"

A set of dazzling blue eyes and a set of midnight eyes landed on the girl who was still blinking her eyes, but Naruto spoke first.

"Um…Miss, are you alright?" Naruto turned to Sasuke, "Does she have epilepsy?"

Sasuke snorted into his hand, his eyes bugging as they peeled away from Karin and looking down at his lap while he pretended to fix his hair.

"Hey, Sasuke, your friend there isn't too bad." Suigetsu commented with a smirk, a few crooked teeth showing.

The raven went to look up, correct his forced-into-being partner that he _wasn't_ friends with Naruto in _any_ way till the blonde spoke next.

"Shit!" Sasuke saw Naruto's feet shuffle back slightly, and the blonde tripped lightly, "What in the _hell_ is wrong with your face?"

The raven hopped up from his seat, laughing under his breath while Juugo looked on between the two left at the table who had been stunned into silence.

There is a first for everything.

"Dobe," Sasuke swallowed the rest of his laughter, "Before you cause a war between my partners, please leave."

"I can't say anything to Andre the Mute Giant?"

Sasuke sighed, "No. He's the sanity in all of this."

Naruto faked a gasp, "And you aren't?"

Sasuke's eyes shrunk into a sharp glare, "I'll give you three damn seconds to walk away."

"Come on, you don't want to role play?" Naruto wiggled his eyebrows before slightly wiggling his hips, "I'll be the sexy librarian and you can be the broody student who needs a little blonde upper."

Two pale hands snapped up instantly, desperately trying to get at a small tan throat that was now laughing at him in mock while the blonde was practically skipping away with a light wave.

"BYE BASTARD!" Naruto let out loudly.

Sasuke snapped his mouth shut from yelling back a comment and ducking his head behind a shelf of books when he heard a chorus of hushing.

The raven made his way back to the now eerily quiet table and sat back down in his seat just in time for the group to get swiftly kicked out by a rather fierce looking librarian.

* * *

Sasuke wiped down the last of the tables while Suigetsu mopped the floors quietly behind him. Tsunade leaned over the bar area with an amused smile playing with her face.

"So, care to fill me in?"

Sasuke turned to face his manager as he took off his apron, "About?"

The woman rolled her eyes, "Your little situation."

Midnight eyes glanced at Suigetsu who managed to waltz with the mop down to the other end of the bar, trying to get up the remains of a spilled piece of tiramisu.

Sasuke sighed as he climbed up on a bar stool and slouched over on the bar, "I want to die."

Tsunade let out a sweet laugh, "It can't be that bad."

Sasuke looked up from the gleam of the bar top to the smiling woman to give her a glare, the worst one he administered yet, and her smile and laughter died immediately.

"Oh come on, now." Tsunade straightened up and waved the man off before grabbing a bottled beer and passing it on and daring him to tattle. "How bad is it?"

"Can I live with you?" Sasuke cracked open the beer and chugged.

Tsunade snorted, "Next you'll be crawling on you hands and knees to Itachi."

Sasuke coughed and sputtered and spit the beer before wiping the back of his hand over his mouth. "Are you _insane_?"

Tsunade shrugged, "On occasions. Mostly during happy hour and Saturdays."

"I don't know how much of this I can take," Sasuke said despairingly as he laid his head on his newly folded arms.

"How bad can it be, kid?"

"Tsunade…remember how you told me Jiraiya took you to that classy whore house?"

The woman scowled and nodded her head stiffly.

"Imagine he paid to bring one home for an entire month, and there was _nothing_ you could do about it."

* * *

"Hey, Tikasharu?" Naruto looked up with puppy dog eyes, Sasuke's apron wrapped around his clothed waist.

Shikamaru looked over his shoulder with a bored look, "Naruto, for the _last_ time, it's _Shikamaru_."

"Oh, right. Is Pita, Pogee, and Kino going to be over for dinner?"

Shikamaru gave the blonde a pained look, "You aren't great with names, are you?"

The blonde hurtled the couch and flopped down onto the cushions and looked over towards the recliner where the young man sat, "No. Not really."

The other man chuckled, "Well, good luck with that one. Anyway, I'm leaving to go out to dinner with Temari, and the guys don't usually come over unless I'm here too."

The blonde nodded, "Sasuke's a little too abrasive."

Shikamaru snorted as he stood, "A little."

The blonde looked over his shoulder at the table only set for two anyway, the steaming food waiting patiently to be eaten, "Well, at least now I don't have to run out to get more food."

The other man nodded as he strapped on his coat and donned his gloves and tossed the idea around over his hat; it had gotten cold that night. Shikamaru pulled a winter cap on tightly over his ponytail just as Sasuke threw open the front door.

The raven shook his head so dew drops rained off the damp raven hair before he eyed his friend with a warning, "Stay at her place."

Sasuke just always knew where Shikamaru was going.

Shikamaru blinked while halfway putting his hat back on, wrestling to keep it on with his hair still up, "Hm. Finally taking that big leap with Naruto?"

Sasuke stripped himself of his gloves and cracked his knuckles, "No. I'm going to fucking kill him." He started calmly, ignoring the blonde to his immediate right.

Shikamaru pulled down the cap again with force, "And why would you be killing him? Hey…did it start snowing?"

Sasuke sighed, ignoring the gasp next to him, "Yes, it's snowing like crazy. The _idiot_ got me kicked out of the library, my whole group. Do _you_ know what it's like trying to have Karin lure you to her house? Then we sat at Denny's for not fifteen minutes before we were kicked out because Suigetsu tried to stab Karin with a damn fork."

Shikamaru snorted, "Well, where did you go from there?"

"To my car. To wait for them to come outside so I could run them over." Sasuke sighed out of his jacket and tossed it over the back of the recliner. "But then I remembered we all drove in _my_ car…_together_. So they followed me."

Shikamaru chuckled lightly, "Then where."

"The bus station."

The other laughed with a shake of his head, "You truly are a bastard, Uchiha."

"Fuck them." Sasuke snarled angrily as he turned to go to the kitchen to get something to drink.

"Your…_friend_," Shikamaru chose wisely, "made dinner for you."

"Wonderful. Maybe he can tell me how I'm going to approach the toughest professor in the school and get an extension." Sasuke shot bitterly from the kitchen as he looked over the sink and bar area that went immediately into the dining room just as he heard the front door open and close.

Shikamaru left.

The table wasn't set up any special type of way, but Sasuke had to hold back a snort at the dinner Naruto actually made, which consisted of TV dinners. The raven sighed, because that meant Naruto really couldn't cook. He knew, in the end, the idiot blonde would somehow manage to burn his damn apartment building down trying to make a piece of toast. He could see it.

The raven's gaze lifted from the cheep plastic containers sitting idly by on his dining room table to see the blonde at the one small window in the dining room with his face pressed up against the glass.

Sasuke winced, then glared, then grimaced.

He mentally reasoned after a fraction of a second – Naruto cleaned them now.

"Dobe. What in the hell are you doing?"

"Isnvasheenshawbefaw." The blonde mumbled together in a jumbled mess against the glass.

"Come again?"

Sasuke mentally slapped himself because he knew some stupid sexual comment was going to come rolling off the blonde with some sultry tone with some dumb eyebrow wiggle.

Naruto simply plucked his face off of the cold glass, and turned with a smile, "I've _never_ seen snow before."

Sasuke snorted as he walked around into the dining room and sat at the table, "Never? Then why are you staying up here? Go play in it or whatever idiots do."

Naruto half turned away from the window, but let his eyes flick to the sight now and again. "Can't. The rules."

Sasuke poked a piece of weird looking meat experimentally with his fork while sneering at it, wondering if he could perhaps intimidate it into looking more appetizing. "What do you mean? Do you need a helmet before you go play?"

"I can't leave the apartment building."

Sasuke peered out from underneath his long raven black bangs to look at the blonde with a murderous glare, "You came to the _library_."

The blonde made two steps to the dining room table before he flopped down onto the uncomfortable chair while throwing his elbows on the table and ignored his edict classes. "Okay, let's try this again. I can't leave the building without you, or _for you_."

"Even to go _right outside_ the front of the complex?"

The blonde shook his shaggy head while he prodded the meat himself with a foul and regretful look, wondering if he should make some poor delivery man try the snow. "Nope. Unless I'm with you, or going somewhere for you. I took you your lunch earlier – for you. As a Charmer, my main priority is to focus on you and what you want. Not what I want. So, in turn, I end up getting pent up in a tiny apartment."

The raven got up from the table and grabbed a menu from a stack that sat on the kitchen counter while taking his cell phone from his pocket and sliding the two across the small dining room table to the blonde.

"What if I want you to leave me the hell alone?"

Naruto chuckled with a light smile, "Sorry. You really are stuck with me."

"Let's make a deal."

Sasuke already figured he would have to give Naruto something in order to get something from him, and now was the perfect time to bring it up in some small form.  
The blonde lifted up the menu with a curious glance over the edge before running his eyes over the endless possibilities of dinner.

"I _love_ that game."

Sasuke glared lightly, "_If_ you stay out of my hair when I ask you too, I'll drag your sorry ass around town."

"Geez." Naruto snorted, "You sound like you'll die from making this compromise."

Sasuke knew it was a possibility. Walking by a bridge with Naruto and just happening to jump off.

It happens.

Sasuke glared harder, "And, I'll tell you things about myself everyday too. You do need to know things, right? Mr. Survey."

The blonde put down the menu and looked at Sasuke for a moment, "Anything?"

"Maybe."

"Then I won't leave you alone."

Sasuke shrugged and then leaned back smugly in his chair, "Then I just won't come home. Hell, maybe I'll call into the company and confess my undying first glance love for you."

"You really, truly are a bastard."

Sasuke shrugged as he stood from the chair, "On occasions. Will you order me the grilled chicken salad? And please don't forget to clean up…Whatever it is you made."

"Anything else, Prince Bastard?" Nartuo grumbled, hating the cleaning part of his job most.

The raven made his way to the bathroom to take a quick shower before his _real_ dinner, "Could you go outside and wait for the delivery man for me?"

The blonde snapped up from his chair, "Okay! Whoa, whoa, whoa! Mood swing check. Why are you being so nice?"

Sasuke shrugged in the doorway of the bathroom, "Because it will be nice to get out of the shower without you trying to dry hump my leg like some deprived dog."

Sasuke snapped the door shut and listened to the blonde rush around the apartment suddenly gathering his warmer winter clothes while he ordered the food in a rush.

Not to mention, _anyone_ who insults his classmates deserves _something_.

So all he had to do now was deal with Naruto to _not_ have to deal with Naruto.

Bullshit.

* * *

Author's Notes: My heart was not in it.  
I know the chapter was 'pointless'. I'm setting up for some things. Review, Enjoy, Love.  
If I owe anyone an e-mail, please, give me time. Things exploded and I need a minute


	5. Dropping By for an Extension

Chapter Five: Dropping By for an Extension

Author's Notes/Warning: _I mentioned a number people might be offended by. It's a joke. That's it.  
__**  
Also**__: I'm surprised no one asked the question…I doubt no one noticed? Ah well, you'll see.  
Sorry I took so long to update, and I know I said I'd usually update on Tuesday, but seeing as I finally finished the chapter, I just wanted to post it.  
_  
Chapter Five: Dropping By for an Extension

* * *

Day Four:

Status: It SNOWED! And…Confused about ONE thing.  
Resort to: Politeness and cuteness to get answer.  
Personality: That of a Serial Killer.  
-Sweet and kind when he wants to be, but the heart of a murderer.  
Excitement Level: _Snow. Flakes._ HA! Because he's cold hearted!  
No…really…it snowed.  
Chemistry Level: Compromises and death threats.  
Sexual Experiences: In need of a Playboy.

* * *

"Hey, Sasuke?" The blonde questioned gently from the doorway.

The raven turned with a pile of clothes in hand, a towel wrapped low around his moon white waist, and a scowl gracing his flawless features.

"What, dobe? Can't you see I'm trying to get ready?" Sasuke carelessly dropped the pile of clothes on the bed to grip at the towel protectively.

"I just have a question." Naruto chirped out cutely.

Sasuke sighed roughly while pinching the bridge of his nose, "Make it quick."

"Why did your friends say they ordered me for your birthday – which is in July – and it's December?"

Sasuke chuckled before he crossed his arms limply over his sweetly toned chest, "Dobe, you honestly don't know?"

The blonde shook his shaggy head while he absently wondered if he could strip the man of his towel without being hurt, and realized that was far past impossible.

Sasuke sighed before he turned to his bed and grabbed his undershirt to quickly throw it on without having his towel drop, "They ordered you because they _want_ me to have someone, because they think I'll…lighten up. The birthday thing was an excuse – a joke. I'm guessing they forgot about Christmas."

Naruto snorted, Sasuke guessing it was about the birthday mishap before he heard the blonde mumble as he left the doorway and shut the door, "It would have to be a cold day in July for you to lighten up."

The raven looked towards the door, his eyes blinking like an owl before he grinded his teeth in a last minute, most likely regretful decision.

"Dobe! GET CHANGED!"

* * *

Naruto's sneakers skipped on the dampened sidewalk while his bright orange scarf swayed from his neck. His bright, sky blue eyes scanned the buildings and shops that they passed as they walked in silence while he got caught up in the moment, before he decided to climb back down from cloud nine, and hop on the jolly Sasuke train on track six-six-six.

The blonde's shoulder was shoved against roughly while Naruto tried to swerve through the oncoming crowd like the raven only to get hit once more.

"Stick up for yourself, dobe. Say something."

Naruto snorted as he picked up his pace to keep up with the raven, "You know something, I wish I was going."

Sasuke scowled at a teenager who almost ran right into him, "What are you talking about?"

"Well, everyone is always in such a rush, like everything they do and where they are going is so important. I'd love to be going to this so amazingly important place that I just can't wait to go to."

Sasuke immediately slowed his paces; going to meet his group for their project at his place of work really wasn't the greatest thing in the world, especially with Naruto in tow.

Hell, now that Sasuke really thought about it and dragged his feet, he wondered if he should just turn the hell around and go home.

The raven made a quick left suddenly at a small strip of shops, the shortest building sweetly waiting with an open door for Sasuke to briskly walk in and Naruto to skip in behind him.

"Hey, Tsunade." Sasuke said as he passed by the bar.

The blonde woman looked up from the ice box, the scoop and glass in mid fill, "Hey kid. Miss me?"

Sasuke snorted, "Hardly. Where is Suigetsu?"

Tsunade glanced at the blonde next to Sasuke's side, grinning brightly and waving insanely. Tsunade let her eyes flick back and forth between the pair; an impassive Sasuke, a happy blonde, a barely confused Sasuke, an excitedly happy blonde, a scowling Sasuke, and a still very happy blonde.

"You must be Sasuke's headache." Tsunade said as she placed the glass on the counter with a smirk and leaned over; giving that half of the bar a good look at the biggest cleavage they'd seen yet.

Naruto grinned, before jabbing Sasuke's arm, "Awe, bastard. You've been talking about me? You must be his old hag of a boss."

Tsunade's smile dropped instantly, her eyes turned onto Sasuke while she glared, and the raven turned to the blonde while all Naruto did was just smiled sweetly.

"Your group," The woman ground out, "is in the back on the non-smoking near the kitchen hall."

Sasuke grabbed the blonde by the hood of his jacket and yanked him roughly to follow along as he made his way to the back of the right side of the little restaurant.

It was pretty apparent why Tsunade made Suigetsu sit in the back near the kitchen hall as soon as he eyed the group. Karin and Suigetsu were standing up, yelling, while Juugo was looking over the menu casually.

"Are they always like that?" Naruto questioned.

"Sadly." Sasuke was scowling in the general direction of his newest headache when Naruto tugged on the sleeve of his jacket.

"Say, teme, you shouldn't scowl you know."

"And why is that?" Sasuke drew out in a bored tone as they were almost at the table.

The blonde flashed a grin, "Because it causes wrinkles, and I don't want to be with some ugly wrinkled asshole for an entire month."

The raven turned to say something, his mouth halfway to being open even though his mind wasn't exactly sure what was going to come out before Juugo noticed they were standing next to him at the edge of the table.

"Hey."

Sasuke looked at Juugo while Naruto looked down the small hallway that lead to the kitchen just as a waiter disappeared into the entryway.

"How long have they been going at it?" Sasuke grabbed at the back of Naruto's jacket when he just knew the blonde was drifting towards the kitchen.

He couldn't begin to process the thought of having Naruto burned down his place of work and residence in one month.

Juugo gave one shrug, "They showed up like that. I guess they ran into each other on the way here. Literally."

Sasuke turned to spot a red mark on Suigetsu's face that looked exactly like the shape of a hand, "They haven't stopped since?"

"No."

"What are they fighting about?"

"You."

Sasuke tightened his grip on the back of Naruto's shirt when he felt the blonde try to drift away again, this time towards Tsunade, and he couldn't even imagine what would happen if the blonde tried to offer her sex for something stupid.

He really couldn't afford to pay some company an ungodly amount of money because the idiot got beat up by a woman for being dumb.

Sasuke turned to look at Naruto, who was looking around curiously before he tugged him over, "Hey, dobe. Shut them up for me."

Naruto grinned as he elbowed Sasuke a few times in the ribs, "Getting to know the friends instead of you hiding me? Moving up, aren't we Sasuke?"

The raven went to smack Naruto upside the head as hard as he could, knowing he could reason with these company people about the blonde being annoying and dumb and deserved the abuse before Naruto spoke.

"Hey! You know something, that red mark on your face adds to your appearance Spaghetti."

Sasuke sighed, "It's Suigetsu."

Naruto turned to look at the raven while the other two stopped to glare at the blonde, "Wait? Smelly tofu?"

"No!"

There was a click of a tongue and an annoyed huff, mixed with tapping of a shoe, "I thought-"

"Big mistake!" Naruto began as he looked back, "You look like the type who shouldn't do too much of that. Strenuous activity and all…"

Sasuke snorted, before mumbling under his breath, "You're one to talk."

"Say, Crayon-"

"Karin…" Sasuke corrected with a shake of his head.

Naruto looked at the raven, "Look at her hair…bullshit."

Juugo finally spoke, "Why don't we just address what we need to address."

Sasuke looked at the two who were still standing, as if their seats didn't exist, "You were fighting about me?"

Karin held up her chin, "You should ask Suigetsu!"

Sasuke's eyes flicked over to the other with an impassive face, "Well?"

The other male crossed his arms limply over his chest before looking off to the side as two waiters popped out of the kitchen and went towards their tables, "You haven't been helping much. We're going to miss the deadline. Because of you we couldn't pick a topic."

Sasuke calmly sat down in a chair and yanked down Naruto into the one next to his, the blonde turning to look around the little restaurant like it was the most interesting place in the world.

"Wait, what you're telling me," Sasuke's eyes shrunk into a sharp glare as the two took their seats, "Is because the two of you couldn't stop bickering and were indecisive…it's my fault?"

"We needed just one deciding party and-" Suigetsu tried.

"Sasuke, can't we ask for an extension?" Juugo asked, still looking over the menu that he actually had memorized.

The raven sighed, "I had already planned on talking to Professor Sannin today…"

Suigetsu slumped in his seat, looking away, while Karin looked over at him with a smug triumphant look; obviously she had sided with Sasuke handling it with their professor.

"What are you going to propose?" Juugo added, so the other two wouldn't cause an uproar with something left unsaid.

Sasuke stood, noticing Naruto had gotten up at some point in time and wondered away to some corner of the place, and by the commotion in the kitchen, he was guessing in there.  
The raven started stepping towards the kitchen when he heard a yell, heard the crashing of a few pans and distinctly heard Naruto's laughter followed by glasses shattering.

"I'm going to ask for a short extension, and since the work has been started," Sasuke poked his head into the kitchen to see the cooks chasing Naruto around before he turned back to the group, "And he's so strict…We'll be lucky if we get a day or two if anything at all."

Sasuke checked into the kitchen again, noting Naruto was a fast runner and therefore would be okay with the cooks chasing after him with thick metal spatulas and large menacing knives.

The raven walked back casually towards the table, "How much does everyone have done on the topic we finally selected?"

Karin smiled smugly while eyeing Suigetsu, "I'm almost finished, I just have to edit it."

Suigetsu glared back at the girl, "I'm almost there, I just need to find something and write one last paragraph."

Juugo shrugged, "I'm finished."

Sasuke decided to lie, since he had _nothing_ and hadn't even started and knew, in the end, he would not be getting any sleep, "I'm almost done. Just some finishing touches and putting our papers together and we're done. If I ask for an extra day, I think we can do it. Finish up tonight, and put it together tomorrow. Then we can turn it in the next day."

"If we get there or get that extension." Suigetsu pointed out just as Karin smacked him for his low moral.

Naruto popped back up next to Sasuke and tugged on his sleeve towards the front door, whispering about fleeing, and the raven was all for it simply because he didn't want to stay any longer than necessary.

It was pretty easy to leave really, when Tsunade came storming up and threatened to kill the two of them.

* * *

"Where are we going next?" Naruto said from behind the raven, knowing now Sasuke was just a good blocking agent for the rough passersby.

"_We_ will be going back to the apartment to drop _you_ off." Sasuke finished coldly.

He was lucky he still had his job, mainly because Tsunade understood one small, smidgen of his problem that was in the form of a hyperactive blonde idiot.

Naruto's index finger prodded Sasuke's back through his thick jacket, "Why?"

"Because dobe, I can't take the risk."

"Oh, I'm a liability?"

The raven snorted as he walked up the steps of the apartment building, "Dobe, I would have been happier if you came with insurance."

"I'm not _that_ bad."

Sasuke took the steps easily two at a time, while the blonde climbed the steps like some cat on all fours behind him, "Did you notice what you set on my dining room table and called food? I'm playing with death with you around me."

The raven walked up to his door, and easily ignored the fact that the blonde had tripped over the last step and fell on his face before scrambling to catch up.

"Why can't I just come with you and stay outside?" Naruto pressed while Sasuke was fiddling with the lock and his stubborn key.

"I can see that working out well. I come outside and find you're hurt because of some blonde moment-"

The raven opened the door to be greeted by his roommate who was, of course, lazily lounging in the recliner; his ponytail sticking up over the edge. Kiba and Shino were playing some game on some game system that Sasuke did not recall having.

Then, there was some unknown man, with flamboyant gray hair and mischievous eyes that Sasuke did not recall ever knowing or seeing once in his apartment.

Blonde hair popped up in view over Sasuke's right shoulder just as Naruto's voice was piercing it, "Kakashi!"

That's when Sasuke's day just got a little worse, when he thought it wasn't going to happen, but then again, he was still adjusting to the blonde plague known as Naruto.

But there it was, clear as day, Naruto's mysterious manager was making his first house call.

* * *

Author's Notes: Again, I'm so very sorry with taking so long, I guess that's why I just decided to update today. Read, review, and I hope you enjoy.


	6. The Manager and The Paper

Chapter Six: The Manager and The Paper

Author's Notes: Chapters are lagging behind due to my mother being in ICU. I'm hoping I can get out of my depressive state soon and bust my ass.

Disclaimer: Whatever that was mentioned that I shouldn't own, well, I don't.

Chapter Six: The Manager and The Paper

"You see life is like that...we change, that's all. You see, the guy I am now, is not the guy I was then. If the guy I was then met the guy I am now, he'd beat the shit out of me. Those are the facts." – Stevo – SLC Punk

* * *

Sasuke at least figured when hearing about this _Kakashi_ he had a little while before said man showed up to check up on the blonde idiot.

No, of course not, things never work out in his favor.

"Hey Sunny!" The man waved lightly as he turned to face the blonde.

"Sonny?" Sasuke mumbled while he tried to shrug off Naruto's arm that had been slung around his shoulders.

The blonde smiled, "_Sun_-ny, as in sun. It changes every time."

Kakashi approached the pair and shoved his hands in his pockets and began rocking back and forth on his feet before looking at Sasuke. "And you must be Ducky?"

"Ducky?" Sasuke quirked a delicate brow with a dead tone.

Naruto winced with a hiss as he withdrew his arm and made an easy escape over to the pair who was playing the game.

"Naruto called the first night to check in and told me about that nice little hair style you have. Said it looked like a 'duck taking a shit' and he did hit the nail on the head."

Sasuke's eye twitched, "My _name_ is Sasuke."

"Alright, Ducky. _So_, how is everything?"

Annoying. A step away from expensive, and close to giving him a stroke.

"Fine." Sasuke grounded out.

"_And_ how come I don't believe you?" Kakashi smiled sweetly with a sickening tone.

The raven sighed, "It's not because of Naruto – a little. Honestly, it would be nice if he didn't keep trying to cook. And I mean that in every sense of the word, I fear for my life three times a day."

The older man laughed, "You really are a frigid little man, aren't you? Well, your brother tells no lies."

Kakashi swore he heard a pipe spring a leak at that moment, "Naruto. Is. Fine."

"Why so angry?" The older man cooed, and the rest of the group swore the room dropped a few degrees at that moment.

"It _doesn't_ involve Naruto, so it doesn't matter." Sasuke said coldly with a harsh glare.

Kakashi never wavered and actually waved him off, "On the contrary, if he's with you then it is my business."

"Hey, let it go!" Naruto called as he played the game like nothing was out of the ordinary, "He's got a lot of pressure from work and school."

Kakashi's eyes twinkled and Sasuke groaned, "Well, we know how to get rid of stress! That's why Sunny is here! _So_! How many times have you done it?"

The raven glared at the man when he clapped in excitement, "Wouldn't he have called you?"

The man smiled kindly, "My phone broke, so I decided to come here and get all the updates and incorporate my house call."

Sasuke flicked his gaze over to the blonde who was once smiling, but instantly faded at the look of death that was thrown at him.

Yeah, Sasuke was far from amused.

"So, how many times?"

"None."

Kakashi blinked in confusion, imitating an owl, "Are you sure?"

Sasuke looked around the grayed man and addressed the rest of the room with an irritated growl, "I'm heading off to talk to my professor."

The young man turned on his heel, intent on leaving and running full speed in one direction and not stopping till he dropped dead, till the devil with gray hair stopped him as he faced the door.

"Shouldn't you be taking my Sunny with you, Ducky?"

Sasuke felt his skin crawl at the name and the sweet tone and refused to turn around because he knew if he did, he would strangle the son-of-a-bitch. "Why…" Deep calming breaths,

"Would I?"

"Well, I'm just trying to see how you would make a connection if he is here."

Sasuke absently wondered if this man would whip up some off the wall fine for this, and when he turned around to ask Naruto to reason with Kakashi, he just knew…

Yes. Yes Kakashi would.

The raven sighed, "Come on dobe."

The man smiled and walked back towards the couch as he took a book from somewhere unknown, "And don't worry Ducky, I'll work something for food. Have fun kids!"

The raven leaned over the recliner and put a hand on Shikamaru's shoulder, "What genius idea do you have for this?"

The lazy young man shrugged, "You can either get through this with Uchiha grace and make it to the end of month like your brother doesn't think you're capable of, or, you can kill them both and hope for the best."

The lazy man shook his head as he heard the door slam shut, "Troublesome."

Shikamaru knew if he wanted to get Sasuke to do what he needed to do, just mention Itachi in anyway or by any means, and the younger Uchiha would be stubborn enough to bend.

* * *

"Cher…?" Naruto questioned lightly.

He and Sasuke currently stood at the top in the back of the large college classroom waiting for the professor to finish with another student.

"What dobe?" Sasuke heaved a heavy sigh and crossed his arms before flicking his dark gaze to the corner of his eyes.

Sasuke had to act somewhat appropriate in the presence of his professor, and making childish comments side by side with childish antics didn't help that statement.

Naruto's bright eyes were looking down at the teacher. The man's pale skin stuck out like lightening in a darkened night sky, and his smile that was crawling along his face was making the blonde dance on the spot with uneasiness

All Naruto's comments that were crawling up his throat that at least the man's long curtain of dark hair was fine, were cut off once he saw his face and knew, officially, he would be having nightmares.

"What's got you so…spooked?" Sasuke chose carefully.

"Maybe Michael come straight out of Fairy Scary Land from Hell!" Naruto whispered harshly with a hiss. "Seriously, your professor looks like the lost member of Jackson Five straight out of some twisted part of Lord of The Rings that I wasn't quite aware of."

Sasuke glared coldly in warning knowing the teacher could hear insanely well before he noticed out of the corner of his eye, the other student being ordered away and himself being ushered forward with a wave of the hand.

The raven shivered and Naruto cowered.

Sasuke walked down the steps and approached the pale skinned man with an impassive face, "Professor Sannin."

The man gave a crawling smile that drew up his mouth, and Sasuke had a passing thought in the back of his head that, maybe Naruto had the right idea when it came to the cowering.

"Please, Sasuke, call me Orochimaru."

Sasuke refused to gag, "_Professor_," the raven grounded out, "I needed to speak to you about the paper my group is writing."

The man's smile grew, and Naruto was tempted to jump out of the room and run for his life.

"Yes. I hope you have a presentation prepared."

The raven smirked coolly even though he screamed on the inside, "Mostly. We were wondering if we could just have a small extension of a day or two. We want to refine certain things."

The man's smile faded into a smirk as his hands went to become clasped behind his back, "I suppose I am expecting too much out of your group. All of my best students."

The man began humming in thought as he began to pace lightly back and forth, his footsteps echoing in the large empty classroom, and Sasuke watching him uneasily.

The older man stopped suddenly and turned to face Sasuke before his eyes caught Naruto, "I do hope Sasuke, you aren't getting distracted."

The raven shook his head, "No, of course not. A distant cousin that came for a visit. I explained to him that I had to finish my project before I showed him around the city."

"Of course, of course," Orochimaru smiled, "A short extension is granted, but in this, I expect greatness from your group."

Sasuke nodded firmly, his bangs brushing his face, "We wouldn't give you otherwise."

* * *

"That was a dumb promise, huh?"

Sasuke looked up from his laptop, looking over to the blonde who was sitting cross-legged on his bed. The raven had tried to get rid of Naruto upon arrival to the apartment, but it was a little hard with teasing calls from his friends and pestering orders from the manager. It wasn't bad enough he had a paper to write, but it was even more that it wasn't even started, and Naruto was on his right bugging him about every little fucking thing.

"It wasn't a dumb promise, dobe. We needed the extension." Sasuke grumbled before he turned back to the task at hand.

"I just figured it was dumb considering you didn't ask for a long extension and you haven't even started." The blonde flopped down on the bed once more; stretching his legs and arms out before sitting right back up.

"I can write my part overnight." Sasuke replied back in a drone voice.

The blonde chuckled, "Well, then I give you credit, because I doubt I'd be able to do that."

Sasuke snorted while he rubbed his eyes in a tired manner before glancing at the clock that already read eleven. Where had the time gone? "Dobe, I doubt you'd be able to do anything that requires intelligence."

The blonde stuck his tongue out in a huff, "I'm going to go get some food for us. We didn't eat dinner," Naruto stomach let out an angry roar, "And I'm betting you're as hungry as I am."

The raven was currently looking at Naruto's stomach with a look of disgust mixed with confusion, both as to how something so loud and angry comes from such a tiny man.

"I would prefer not to dance with death tonight." Sasuke turned back to the computer.

Naruto waved him off as he stood, "Kakashi did say he was going to take care of food, and that meant the entire month I was here. Don't worry." Sasuke sighed as the door shut softly.

Right, don't worry. You know, with a daunting paper for the scariest professor, a crazy man staying at the apartment, and a blonde idiot that was making his life a living hell that was now going to attempt to poison him.

Don't worry.

* * *

Naruto was very grateful Kakashi had gotten someone to practically fly out to deliver the only microwave meals Naruto never melted to goop. Not to mention, they were all delicious, and came in so many varieties, it was sure to leave the Ice Prick in a relatively good mood.

Naruto walked back in the room a little later with two steaming plates of food, only to find something he was sure no one ever saw before.  
Sasuke had his arms folded peacefully on his desk in front of his laptop, his head resting as comfortably as it could get.

His eyes were resting peacefully closed, his mouth was barely hanging open, and his bangs were spread across his face in wisps.  
Naruto walked up to the desk and put the raven's plate down with a gentle smile and a quite calm before using his free hand to grab at the laptop awkwardly and made his way back to Sasuke bed.

The blonde set the laptop down before the plate, and flopped down obnoxiously with a grin and a crack of his knuckles.

Naruto reached over and grabbed his fork, jabbed it into whatever it was he made for himself before shoveling it into his mouth and swiping his finger tips across the key board.  
Naruto was thankful he listened to every little thing Sasuke ever said or did.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Sasuke's eyes cracked open before fluttering back down to a closed position, right before the raven jerked awake with wide eyes and rocketing off of his desk in alert.

His neck was stiff, his laptop was closed, there was a plate of cold food on his desk, and Naruto was asleep on his bed.

The raven grabbed at his laptop to rip it open and pray that he might be able to spit out some form of a paper in – he groaned – two hours before he caught sight of something atop his laptop.

The raven grabbed the papers to move them out of the way, thinking it was a stupid note from Naruto before a voice called from the doorway, nearly scaring him out of his skin save for his Uchiha grace.

"You might want to check that out Mike (1)." Kakashi called from the doorway.

The raven glared at the man that was leaning casually on his door frame while reading a dirty novel like it was an everyday occurrence.

The raven heaved a sigh like scanning the paper in his hand was a chore, but really he had work to do. His eyes ran over the paper; scanned certain areas here and read certain lines there while skipping some things while his eyes grew wider and wider while his face tried to stay impassive.

Kakashi smiled from the doorway as he snapped the book shut, "Sunny has a certain way about things."

The raven glanced back at the paper and realized that yes; indeed, Naruto had his own way while Sasuke had his that was the complete opposite.  
Right now, for the first time, Sasuke was fine with that.

* * *

1) Was a character in a movie called SLC Punk which is where the quote came from. Something about Sasuke's personality and Mike's personality is pretty similar.


	7. The City With Snowflakes

Chapter Seven: The City with Snowflakes

Author's Notes: You know what, fuck it. I'm back. Screw it. My updates will _not_ be like they used to be, and I do so apologize. But, for now, all I can promise you is that I _will_ finish all my fictions.

Disclaimer: Don't own it.

Chapter Seven: The City with Snowflakes

* * *

Day Five:  
Status: Tired…Ramen…Teme.  
Personality: Loud. Awkward…huh?  
Excitement Level: Too damn exciting.  
Sexual Experiences: Couldn't get it up if I tried.  
Will be making out with pillow as sleep ensues. Beautiful, hot, and drop dead sexy sleep.

* * *

Sasuke placed his hand gently on the slowly rising and falling shoulder as Naruto slept on his side, paused for the briefest of minutes before shaking the young man roughly.

"Dobe!" He barked.

The blond jerked and rolled to his back, his eyes snapping open before sliding to half-mast, and a tan arm was throw over Naruto's forehead to try to fend away the creeping light.

"_Whaaat_?" Naruto whined obnoxiously.

Sasuke shook the papers angrily, the papers slapping together in Naruto's face, "How in the hell did you write this?"

The blond peaked out from underneath his arm, his voice cracking from tiredness, "_Google._"

The raven was tempted to throw the papers in the air at the ease that was granted to the blond whereas Sasuke, a few hours prior, was looking forward to only glaring at his text book and praying for a miracle.

Apparently his miracle was a blond haired jackass who found simplicity.

"Hn."

Naruto removed the arm from his face, "Can't you be quiet? I stayed up all night writing that paper. Cross-referencing that shit was even harder…now _shhh_."

The raven glared at the blond as he rolled over in his bed and shuffled around to get more comfortable. Sasuke attempted to ball his hands into fists before realizing he had begun to crush the papers and paused, holding them up and sighing. Naruto had stayed up, considering the signs were obvious at that fact. The blond didn't have to stay up all night and research things he didn't know anything about and had to double check every little thing.

He didn't have to; he could have easily woken Sasuke up and gone to bed.

The raven sighed and turned to glare at the wall before glaring at his desk, "Be ready when I come home from meeting with my group, dobe."

"Aye Captain." Naruto mumbled mixing it with a snore.

"We'll be going out." Sasuke let out a defeated sigh, his left eye twitching involuntarily.

Sasuke heard the bed groan from a quick movement as Naruto sat bolt upright, his voice ringing clearly through the room, apartment and entire building.

"REALLY!?"

Sometimes, Sasuke wondered if he had a death wish.

* * *

Sasuke walked into his place of work with a scowl; his bag slung over his shoulder and vibes of death radiating off of him in warning.

But some people just didn't care.

"Where is the nuisance?" Tsunade greeted from behind the bar.

"At the apartment. Where is the rest of my headache?" Sasuke droned on, reaching behind the counter and stealing a glass.

The woman turned and set a glass on the counter in front of a man immersed in a sports game on the television, calling over her shoulder over the noise of the small crowded place.

"In the back corner, as usual. The weird boy and the bitchy girl are fighting again."

Sasuke sighed as he finished filling the glass with water, tossing the soda gun off to the side with a scowl and shuffling off to the far corner of the restaurant. Sure enough, as he glanced over the tables and chairs that cluttered the nonsmoking section of the restaurant, he caught sight of Karin and Suigetsu.

Then, he could hear them.

He strolled over to the group with Uchiha grace, blocking out their argument while the customers looked on while they silently ate their food and drank their drinks with wide eyes. The raven approached the table as Karin growled rather manly in Suigestu's face, threatening that his manhood would be cut off.

Sasuke looked to Juugo as he took his seat with a frown, "Couldn't you quiet them down?"

"No."

Onyx eyes glanced over once he heard a shatter and a grunt before turning his attention back to Juugo, "What are they fighting about now?"

"Same thing they do everyday Pinky…"

Sasuke settled into the chair with a snort, resting his eyes closed peacefully and crossing his arms over his chest in waiting. Sasuke peaked out of one eye and glanced at the man next to him, questioning silently if the drone voice that came out of him really was an attempt at a joke.

"They try and take over your affection…"

And indeed it was.

The raven turned to look at Juugo as he looked over the menu like he did every time they seemed to get together there, something that more likely than not, distracted him from the two who were now glaring at each other. Sasuke arched a delicate eyebrow before turning back towards the two who always seem to forget that such a thing as chairs existed and cleared his throat lightly.

It looked almost comical how quickly they snapped their faces away from each other; their eyes wide and mouths hanging open.

"If you're done, we can get this over with and go about our day."

The two dropped in their chairs promptly, scooting up close to the table while shooting the other withering looks as Juugo sat down his menu with a sigh.

Sasuke opened his bag silently and extracted the papers to his part of the paper that were folded, and tossed them on the table. The rest pulled their papers out as well, all of them stacking on top of the other in the middle of the table silently before looking back to Sasuke.

"Who is going to compile this into one paper?"

Juugo cleared his throat, "Work."

Suigetsu looked to Karin, "I have work, but someone here at this table is unemployed."

Onyx eyes flicked toward the girl who reached for the silverware, no doubt to scramble for the knife, "Can you Karin?"

The woman's face dusted with a blush as she turned towards Sasuke with her eyelashes batting in what she assumed was a flattering movement as she swept her hair across Suigetsu's face.

"Of course."

Sasuke nodded his head once in a stiff manner, his long raven bangs swaying with the motion and causing Karin to sigh lightly, and cause Suigetsu to go green.

"If you could compile that into one paper, and then stop by the campus to see if Sannin is in. The sooner we get this in, the better. For the presentation, we're going to have to wing everything. We don't have time to prep and prepare something perfect."

"I'll make a power point when I get off of work." Juugo commented.

Karin's fawning quickly snapped, "You can make a power point, but not do the final paper?"

"I already started working on it when we got the initial assignment, Sasuke asked me. I don't have much more to complete."

Sasuke kept his face composed, but tried to think back to asking Juugo to do the power point, but simply let it drop.

"Then we're finished."

Sasuke was tempted to make up something hasty to discuss, any number of things, and even debated having Karin hang around and bullshit his way through making sure she knew how to put the paper together.

But he already knew he signed to his own death, he just wondered if he could possibly get hit by a car on his way.

* * *

When Sasuke got back to the apartment, he was greeted by the usual crowed of his so-called friends hanging around his living room laughing themselves into a fit. By the sounds of their laughter, he had a feeling it was going to drop from 'so-called' to 'non-existent', especially if they ordered him _anything_ else.

"What the hell are you laughing at?" Sasuke snapped.

He was still irritated at the fact that he had told Naruto he would take him out, and his damn pride was stopping him from backing out, because it wasn't in his blood or something to back out of anything. So to come home to a house full of laughing idiots, he figured they found out and were beside themselves.

Kiba couldn't stop the chuckles that were still leaking from his mouth, "_Shhh_! Listen!"

And Sasuke heard it. Aside from the shower running which was far from out of the ordinary, he heard the loud and obnoxious, out of tune, and occasionally wrong singing of Naruto in the shower.

"He switches from _The Beatles_ to making up his own jingles…" Kiba gasped for breath, trying to keep his laughter at bay, but when Naruto struck a particularly high note, he lost it again.

"Making up his own jingles?"

As soon as it left his mouth, he knew damn well what the little shit was singing about. Singing _The Beatles_ actually impressed Sasuke some iota only by the fact that Naruto knew an iconic and all around great band such as them, but making up his own jingles made Sasuke want to snap.

Because…

"About going out with you today!" Chouji rang out through his own delighted giggles.

Yeah, that.

Sasuke looked towards the bathroom door and glared at it as the words came seeping through, mingling with the group's laughter.  
_  
Sasuke…Sasuke…get to go out with him tooooodaayyy,_

Sasuke…Sasuke…get to go out with the bastard tooooodayyyy.

Movies that suuuuck? Most likely!

Food that's groooooooss? I can see it nooooow…

Because I'm going out with the teme today!

The group's laughter roared to a new volume until Sasuke grabbed the expensive vase near the door that his brother bought him as a house warming present, and threw it against the door with all his might.

He spared the energy to smile when the laughter instantly died, and let it grow when Shikamaru glared at him.

"Yeah Nara. Since Naruto's in the shower, he is too busy to clean. And it is your week…hurry up. We don't want the little dumbass to get cut, now do we?"

Sasuke forced a laugh when Shikamaru began to spare enough energy to curse more than he ever had in his entire life because Naruto had begun to get out of the shower.

Today was starting to look up.

* * *

Today was starting to look down. Way, way, way down.

Because the gods frowned on Sasuke Uchiha or something of that nature, because no sadistic asshole would really put him through this, would they?

"It looks cute!" Chirped Naruto with a smile.

Yes, yes they would.

"I'll fucking kill you." Sasuke growled.

"What was that _Snape_?" Kakashi called, sticking his head around the corner.

"The _fuck_ did you just call me? I'll kill _you_, you fucking-"

Naruto waved Kakashi off with a scowl, "Stop."

The older man smiled, "Sorry Sparkle."

Sasuke watched the man disappear again and rounded on the blond, "I'm not wearing a pink scarf. I'm not wearing a powder blue hat, and damn dobe, I'm not going to wear that orange puffy jacket."

"Then I choose where we go." Naruto beamed.

"No." Sasuke glared.

"I wrote the paper." Naruto chirped.

"I didn't ask you to." Sasuke sneered.

The blond smiled brightly, Naruto snapping off the pink scarf and setting everything else aside, "Well, then that settles everything. I choose! Let's go!"

Sasuke growled when Naruto tugged on his hand, and absently wondered as the blond tugged him out of the apartment if things could get any worse.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Why aren't you two just the cutest pair!" The hostess giggled as the two came in.

Sasuke firmly had his hands jammed in his coat pockets and away from Naruto's searching hands, but the blond not one to give up, linked his hands around his elbow, instead reminding the poor man of clinging fangirls.

"I'm not with him." Sasuke bit sharply.

The girl's face instantly dropped, a frown forming quickly, "Oh."

"He's only kidding. He's just a frigid asshole who doesn't get out much and doesn't know how to socialize."

The woman giggled as she lead them to a table in the restaurant the blond has chosen at random while they walked through the chilled city.

Sasuke turned his sharp glare on him, "Dobe, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"Hm?" Naruto asked peeling off his fluffy coat that gave him the look of a marshmallow, "I was just quoting your profile that your friends supplied us with."

Sasuke slid in the booth seat and sighed, looking out the large open window that showed off the hustle and bustle of the city that surrounded them. Some people walked by casually like nothing in the world could bother them from such a carefree state, and others rushed through the nip of the cold wind either in a hurry to get out of the freeze or just because people always seemed to be in such a rush in the city.

"Why do you live in the city?" Naruto asked casually from behind a rather tall menu.

Sasuke tore his eyes away from the window and the calming scenery, "Hn."

"What? Was that a 'yes' or a 'hm'?"

If he wasn't in such a foul mood to begin with, he might have actually laughed at such a genuine question and the confused face as Naruto peered curiously over the menu.

"Doesn't matter."

"Ah! You said I can get to know you!" A tan finger pointed accusingly across the table, and it was immediately batted away harshly.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to point dobe?"

Naruto stuck out his tongue childishly, "No. She taught me how to throw a nice right hook, thank you very much."

"She must be damn proud now." Sasuke mumbled rather loudly.

"Wouldn't know." Naruto commented lightly, "So why the city and not out in the country where your neighbors are far away and scarce?"

"Why wouldn't she know?"

"Haven't talked to her in awhile. Now is it because you're afraid that you might find some resemblance between your hairstyle and a chicken's ass on a near by farm? Because really, it's amazing how-"

"Why haven't you talked to her in awhile?" Sasuke interrupted.

"Gay son. Or do you like the city because your frigid ass could get away with more murders…you seem like a-"

"She abandoned you because you're gay?" Sasuke asked.

"No, because I resembled Richard fucking Nixon. Yeah, crazy theory right? They say all parents will support you no matter what, but that's biggest piece of bullshit you will ever hear. Now-"

"Just because you're gay?"

"Why in the hell is this so interesting to you teme?" Naruto bit.

"Because you finally aren't sunshine, rainbows and please let me take off my clothes." He replied in a dead tone.

"You're a sick bastard, you know that?"

"Crazy, isn't it." Sasuke replied dully.

"Why aren't you all stupid knowing I'm gay."

Sasuke blinked a few times as he stared back out the window, "I just assumed. You know, going back to the taking off clothes and the me being a guy and all. Wasn't hard to snap that puzzle into place."

The blond flopped back into the cushion of the booth and crossed his arms childishly, "Bastard."

"I moved to the city because I got tired of the country. We lived in a mansion outside of the city when I was a kid, in the country secluded from everyone."

"Sounds annoying."

"Hn." Sasuke paused for a few moments, "When you're a kid, it is."

"Must have been fun living in a mansion." Naruto commented dreamily.

"Yeah, until your brother tries throwing you down the laundry shoot."

Naruto snorted and tried to cover up his laughter by taking a sip of his milkshake that the waitress had brought swiftly, but Sasuke caught it and glared.

The blond set down the milkshake and wiped the leftovers on the sleeve of his shirt, "What are you studying in college?"

"Are you going to play this all night?"

Naruto paused, "Play what? I had this really kinky game planned out for when we get-"

"Twenty questions idiot."

"Oh…no. I was just wondering seeing as how I stayed up and wrote your paper," Naruto said batting his eyelashes with emphasis.

"You are a fucking idiot. How long are you going to hold that over my head?"

"For as long as it works."

The waitress came up to interrupt them to take their orders, Naruto flirting with her endlessly just because he could, and Sasuke being an asshole just because that's how he was. Naruto talked about pointless random things to fill up the silence while they waited for the food, Sasuke staring out the window lightly. The food came quicker than expected, and the two dove right in. Sasuke ate his meal like a civil human should, while Naruto spoke with his mouth full while shoveling his food down as fast as he could.

Eventually they found themselves finished with the meal, Naruto paid having said it was on the company, and then they decided to sit and let their stomachs settle.

"-And man does that Kiba guy talk about girls way too much. He should stop playing with his hand and get a woman."

"Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?" Sasuke commented.

"Yeah, a lot. Someone should have mentioned to you that you should talk more." Naruto said as he began to slide out of the booth.

The two put their coats on and Naruto proceeded to wrap himself in his scarf, strap on his gloves and wrestled with his hat as they walked out the door.  
Naruto blinked away the snowflakes that immediately pelted his face, nipping at his skin and stuck to his hair and melted instantly. He stared around in wonder and found himself in a flurry of white that was raining down from the sky.

"Where did you grow up dobe?" Sasuke asked as he watched Naruto stare open mouthed at the sky.

"South. You know, where it gets so hot in the summer you explode from stepping outside." Naruto offered in a distracted voice.

Sasuke shook his head, watching as Naruto stared transfixed at the sky. His long eyelashes blinking rapidly and catching snowflakes before they assaulted his forget-me-not blue eyes. They would turn to due drops on the tips of his startling long eyelashes that cast shadows on his slightly rosy cheeks. He watched as Naruto smiled brightly causing the corners of his mouth to dimple and his eyes to crinkle.

The raven blinked, barely shaking his head and turning his head away before he took a few paces along the stretch of wide sidewalk, "Come on dobe! You catch pneumonia and I catch bankruptcy."

"Yeah, sure bastard." Naruto said as he torn his eyes away from the sky and jammed his knitted hat on his head, his bright blond head turning to florescent orange. "I bet you're studying to be a rich business tycoon."

Sasuke sighed as he shoved his hands into his pockets, "Dobe, I'm studying to be a teacher."

"That's pretty hot teme." Naruto commented latching on to his arm, and strengthening his hold when Sasuke tried to shake him off. "But it's also the scariest thing in the world."

"Have you ever heard of a contradiction?"

"No, its cause I think I just had a mini fantasy of you teaching a class dressed as Hitler."

* * *

Author's Notes: I couldn't find another place to end it, so I ended it on a joke. I hope you all don't mind.  
Anyway, I'm trying to move them along, I don't want me to be stuck fifty chapters later and still writing this story. Ugh…no. Though I have to admit, right here and now, I do plan and adding drama. I don't know if it will be a little or a lot. But drama. Because I said so.


	8. The Bastard and I

Chapter Eight: The Bastard and I

Author's Notes: This note is more like a _warning_. The next two or more chapters have a downed mood compared to the recent lighter chapters. It is, simply put, to bring the two closer. SO, again, if you don't like it – don't read it.

EDIT: Some of the _King and I_ song got deleted somehow, and when a friend made a comment about the chapter that made me want to go back and re-read it, I noticed.

Disclaimer: Nothing. I don't own it, I don't make money for it…I'm just hopelessly bored and have too much free damn time.

Chapter Eight: The Bastard and I

* * *

Day Six:  
Status: Cozy, with a side of conspiracy.  
Personality: Different. YES! That's all I could say.  
Excitement Level: _Never_ go into the Lion's Den. What a scary (but comfortable) place it is.  
Sexual Experiences: I slept with him. Literally, not figuratively.

* * *

The sun spilled through the cracks in the blinds, seeing as how since Naruto put them back 'properly' they never exactly shut out light like Sasuke liked it. So as the sun finally rose just over the city skyline, the rays of light touch pale lids, burning into them and stirring him from his peaceful and wonderful slumber.

He stirred, opening his eyes and pulling up his hand from under the covers to shield his eyes from the harsh rays as he blinked wildly. He made a quick glance at his clock and noticed that he still had two hours left to go before he had to rise for school, and never one to be a morning person he rolled over with a sweeping motion to bring his blanket with him and settled to fall back to sleep.

Save for one minor detail.

Or a blond one.

Sasuke's eyes landed on the blond that was snuggled under a rather orange blanket next to him, his eyelids resting peacefully and his snores coming out almost soundlessly.

"What the fuck?" Sasuke snapped, sitting up and simultaneously pushing Naruto out.

He threw his blanket off and rounded the bed where the blond had forcefully been woken, shaking his blond locks and rubbing his eyes wearily with his hands.

"Morning to you too, bastard." He muttered, looking up from his position on the floor.

"Really? Now you're trying to sneak into my bed?" Sasuke growled in a threatening sort of tone.

"Well, _snuck_ would be the proper term, correct?"

Sasuke let out a guttural growl as he made to launch himself at Naruto but stopped when he heard the merry jingle that was Kakashi's humming that seemed to grow in volume once the frightening noise was made. Naruto unfolded from his cowering position to find Sasuke glowering at the door, his arms snaked over his bare toned chest.

"Why in the fuck did you sneak into my bed dobe?" He hissed.

Naruto cringed at the tiny amount of noise that came out so horrifying, and wondered if this was that whole _Uchiha-ness_ that Shikamaru was muttering about yesterday.

"Kakashi was on the couch?" Naruto supplied back lamely.

"There are _floors_, dobe. Floors in which I'd prefer I see you sleep upon than in my bed…with me."

The blond glanced back at the door when the humming was dying in volume and had almost completely diminished, "Look…I just can't alright."

There was something in between a snort and a '_hn_', and he knew he wasn't sold, "No, really, I can't Sasuke."

"What, are you that damn blond? I can knock you out and give you an example of how to lay flat on the ground. The debt is starting to look promising." Sasuke said in a dead but hopeful tone.

"No…" Naruto let out a growl and sprung up from the ground and began to message at his neck in a seeming nervous habit, "I can't while Kakashi's here. I can't sleep out there on the floor."

"Shikamaru's room has carpet…sounds promising." Sasuke retorted in a flat tone with an impassive face.

Naruto let out a growl of his own that seemed almost funny as he tugged on the locks of blond, "_No_. Damn. See, he wants to see effort in our _bonding_."

"Die."

Naruto huffed, "If he sees that I'm not at least making an effort I'll get fired."

Sasuke turned hopefully toward the door and shot his hand out toward the door handle, making Naruto spring for his hand, "Will you wait?"

"No!"

"I need this job!"

"And for what? Get off my arm!" Sasuke tried to wrestle with the door handle while simultaneously wrestling with Naruto; their shoulders bumping roughly, Naruto trying to turn the handle the opposite direction and the blond even going the extra mile to stomp on Sasuke's toes.

"I'm indebted to the company!" Naruto snapped, "I'll explain _everything_ if you promise to not go out there and tell Kakashi…"

"What, that I'm not gay?"

"Something like that?" Naruto said in a meek voice.

There was silence after Naruto withdrew his hand from the doorknob, and Sasuke's hand still lingered on it. The blond studied the ground unable to meet the decision head on.

He heard one of those grunts that sounded like a syllable, and looked up to find Sasuke's hand retreating from the doorknob.

"I only have one stipulation and that is that you _can't _keep trying to get naked. I don't need to be waking up and find your bare ass on the floor of my room."

Naruto's bright blue eyes doubled in size, "You'll keep me?"

"What are you, a pet?"

"I'll be your pet…" Naruto purred back.

Sasuke rolled his eyes with a sigh and walked out of the room, realizing he forgot to mention no more cheesy sex jokes.

* * *

_Getting to know you,  
Getting to know all about you.  
Getting to like you,  
Getting to hope you like me._

_Getting to know you,  
Putting it my way,  
But nicely,  
You are precisely,  
My cup of--  
_  
"Shit."_  
_  
Naruto turned away from the television, his loud singing cut off, "What?"

"Shit. You _sound_ like _shit_." Sasuke said.

The blond glared, "Whatever. You're jealous."

"No. What the hell are you watching moron?" Sasuke asked eyeing the television as if it were an evil monstrosity.

Naruto blinked rapidly up at the man who was standing behind the couch not far from him in wonder considering he thought _everyone_ had seen this movie before, or at least heard of this song.

"_The King and I_?"

"Sounds stupid." Sasuke commented in a dead tone even though he was rounding the couch and sitting down.

Naruto grinned cheekily, "I'm sure."

"Why are you indebted dobe?"

Naruto's head snapped back around to look at Sasuke who was staring at the television, his head slightly tilted to the side and his brow just barely knitted.

The blond then turned around and frantically looked behind them, looking around for a flash of silvery-gray or a mischievous smile that might be lurking in a shadow or crack in the ceiling.

"That asshole manager of yours went to look around the city. Shikamaru's at school, and everyone else is avoiding this place because they think I'm interested in some idiot blond…"

Naruto cracked a weak smile and offered a shrug, "Want something to eat?"

"You better give me a damn good reason I'm keeping you around for the rest of this month. It's December…there is an extra fucking day."

If he wasn't so frightened, Naruto might have laughed at the fact that Sasuke was so worried about the extra calendar day they had to worry about. But instead he was trying to melt into the couch so he didn't have to deal with that death glare that was making him somewhat nervous.

"I have class in an hour…" Sasuke commented in a more airy tone which suggested that Naruto should get talking.

"My parents." He blurted.

"Your parents?" Sasuke asked skeptically. "I swear if you say they sold you because you were gay…"

Naruto snorted, "_No_. They met through the company."

"Oh hell." Sasuke said, his face contorting, "I _don't_ want to hear about your conception dobe."

Naruto actually laughed, the sound dying and leaving a lasting mark on his face as his smile shined, "You are such a freaky bastard."

"Hn."

"My father was a Charmer."

"Here we go…" Sasuke commented with a roll of his eyes and a shake of his head.

"My mom's college friends thought it would be funny to order her a Charmer around exam time."

Sasuke glared, "Hn."

"She felt the same way. Wasn't happy one bit at the nasty stunt her friend's pulled, but no matter how much she asked my dad to just leave, he said he was going to finish out the month."

"Oh hell…"

"They fell in love. They left out all the major details because they thought it was cute or some shit, or maybe they were saving me my sanity-"

"What's left of it…" Sasuke muttered.

"-but they fell in love within that month. My dad left the company without so much as a word, but they caught on pretty quickly with what happened. And I'm pretty sure that big brain of yours remembers what I told you what happens if you want to keep us."

"_If you want to keep me, you have to pay the company the down payment __and__ what they were to pay me..."_

Sasuke nodded, "So they wanted the money."

"Yeah. But my parents just kept dodging them. They were looking at a large debt and there was no way of getting out of it except my dad going back to work there. So…I told my mom I was gay."

Sasuke raised one delicate eyebrow, "You came out of the closet to your mother, so she would kick you out, so you could get them out of debt?"

"Yeah."

Sasuke shook his head twice, "Your logic would scare even my professors."

Naruto gave an involuntary shudder, "That man – the pale one – well…no offence, he needs someone to look at him."

"Dobe, _no one_ wants to look at him."

"Touché, teme."

Getting to know you,  
Putting it my way,  
But nicely,  
You are precisely,  
My cup of--

* * *

"What I don't get is he would do something for someone who didn't care for him anymore." Sasuke said with a sweep of the mop as the restaurant closed.

Tsunade leaned over the bar with a thinking look, "A mother will always care for her child. It's a part of her. So despite how disgusted she might have been, she will always love him. Maybe that shadow of yours understands that."

Sasuke slapped the mop down and topped the handle with both hands, "Who knows. He's too nice. I would never-"

Tsunade let out a loud laugh, cutting off his sentence, "Well yeah. You're cold blooded. It's that Uchiha 'grace' or something. That kid – dumb as he is with that big mouth – you can tell how nice, genuinely nice, he is."

"Or annoying."

She sighed with an eye roll, "Leave it to you not to be able to say something nice about a person."

"But my parents…" Sasuke sighed, "I would _never_ do something like that for them."

"Cold blooded." Tsunade called in a sing-song voice.

"You know how they were, don't even start." He threatened with an added glare, starting to mop again.

Sasuke looked up from the floor when he heard her sigh, and continued the ministration even though he listened, "Well Sasuke, I think you should just meet the little shit halfway."

"What halfway?"

"Instead of having him jump down your throat and trying to claw off your pants, meet him half-"

"NO! I'm _not_ sleeping with him!" Sasuke barked, looking as though he was going to hurtle the bar counter and pummel her.

She snapped her head back but laughed anyway, "No dear. Keep some of the monster at bay, and make a compromise or two…and don't say a thing. Uchiha's can learn the damn word.  
Look it up and inject it in your blood or something. Com-pro-mise."

Sasuke scowled, slapping the mop down and splattering soapy water, "Hn."

"Yeah, yeah. You Uchiha's and your would-be verbal skills," She rolled her eyes, waving him off. "You said he needs to get to know you, so let him. By the sounds of it, he's just as stubborn as you are thick headed."

"Are you here to help me or insult me?" Sasuke asked, waving the stick of the mop threateningly.

She smiled, "Both. Now, tell him about your self and get him off your back. Seems as though he's in your shadow most of the time just to get information. Give it."

"No."

"Fine. Deal with him then." She said offhandedly. "I'm not telling you to sleep with him. I'm telling you how to keep the monster at bay. Send him out on errands, tell him about yourself, and just get it done and over with. It wouldn't kill you to get to know someone and let them get to know you. What's the worst that could happen?"

All Sasuke could do was sigh.

What _was_ the worst that could happen?

* * *

Sasuke walked into the apartment later that night with a rather relieved sigh (momentarily forgetting his mind), and dropped his keys on the table that sat next to the door and draped his coat over the recliner.

The apartment was rather silent compared to sound it found itself in the company of over the past six days. He immediately noticed Naruto was sitting on the couch staring at the television with wide eyes and a slack jaw, soon finding it to be on the food channel.

He just hoped there was some rule about the idiot not having to wait and eat without him, because he would starve with how much he was hardly home between work and school.

He glanced around as he walked into the apartment and found the place to be void of other life, and he became silently hopeful that Kakashi was gone for good.

"Where is everyone dobe?"

Naruto turned his head away from the television, but his eyes refused to leave the screen, "Shika-whatever went to that girl's house…you know the one."

"Temari." Sasuke said with a shake of his head.

"And Kakashi still has yet to come back from shopping." Naruto said in a barely concerned tone.

"Well, if I'm lucky, he got lost."

Sasuke turned and looked at the door with a grimace, waiting for it to swing open and the grayed man to come waltzing in with his know-it-all smile.

But, someone seemed to be shining down upon him with a warm smile and loving arms, because they had embraced him with luck tonight.

Sasuke walked in and took a seat next to Naruto and looked at the television with a shake of his head, noticing they were making a three layer yellow cake with chocolate buttercream icing.

Sasuke _hated_ sweets.

"I hate sweets." He stated dully.

Naruto looked over at him curiously, "How could you?"

"They're horrible for you." Sasuke said in a tone that was in a 'no-duh' fashion.

"And so is your mood swings." Naruto countered.

Sasuke turned back towards the television, the bakery flurry of cakes of all shapes and sizes. An assortments of colors and fun; one was shaped like an old fifties style car, another was shaped like a sinking ship, and another was shaped like a box of Chinese take-out.

"What the hell type of cake show is this?" Sasuke asked, confused. His face was pulled, one eyebrow raised, causing his forehead to knit, the corners of his lips tugging back almost in a grimace.

"They specialize in designer cakes. _Ace of Cakes_ is the coolest show _ever_."

Sasuke nodded slowly, his long framing bangs swaying gently and tapping his cheeks.

They fell into a comfortable silence; they two of them sitting on the couch, Naruto sitting there restlessly with his legs curled underneath of him squirming about from nothing. Sasuke sat there with his arms crossed over his chest, his legs stretched out in front of him with a scowl firmly in place.

One of the bakers on the show was currently in a rather horrid dilemma of her cake seemingly falling apart at the seams as she was on her way to deliver, which sent Naruto into a worried state.

The silence though, was broken by Sasuke, "My parents didn't like me because I wasn't like my brother."

Naruto immediately dropped his hands that were bunched against his forehead in a nervous gesture and turned to look at the raven, his blue eyes searching curiously.

"What?"

"My brother was the star of his class. Perfect grades, graduated high school early, head of the debate team, captain of the football team, in too many clubs to remember. He had early acceptance to college…He was a star. He was considered a prodigy when it came to piano. I was shadowed by him."

Naruto's lips parted, he began to say something but thought better of it.

"My one 'B' in high school was practically a sin, my captain of the basketball team in just my freshmen year wasn't good enough because it wasn't a great sport to them. The clubs I picked, they hated. The scholarships that were offered didn't compare to early acceptance. My violin didn't compare to his piano…"

"You play the violin?" Naruto asked in a chirping voice.

"Yes, and Shikamaru got me into guitar when we first met." Sasuke said in a rather distant voice.

There was a heavy silence for a few moments, but Naruto decided to break it, being the person who didn't enjoy such an ugly thing.

"So you understand? Is that what you're saying?"

Sasuke snorted, "To a fair degree, dobe. You were disowned because of your sexuality. My parents dis-looked down upon me because I was my own person."

"Sounds the same to me." Naruto said with a chuckle.

"Deep down, your parents still love you."

"Why the hell don't you think your parents don't love you, teme? You sound like a whiney bitch." Naruto added in an off-handed tone.

"Simple…I'm-" Sasuke sighed, "Hey dobe?"

"Yes, asshole?"

"You just want to do this one job, and then you're done right?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, then my parents are off the hook. You really think I want to work at this place forever?"

"What the hell are you going to do after that?" Sasuke said, officially changing the subject.

Naruto shrugged, "I don't know. My education stopped at high school, so I'm not going too terribly far. All I know is that I want a job I'll really like, you know?"

"Welcome to everyone's fantasy." Sasuke said in a dead tone.

"Well, like enough to want to do it." Naruto shrugged.

Sasuke nodded once, "You have to listen to things I tell you, correct?"

Naruto went rigid, "To some degree, there are rules, and the extent of them are-"

"I get it." Sasuke interrupted, "But, you have to listen to me, right?"

The blond nodded, watching as the raven stood from the couch and stretched, resigning to just heading to bed, and Naruto's eyes followed him.

"Good. Then you'll be starting college."

It took the length of the time for Sasuke to cross the large room to reach his door and enter, and shut it behind him for Naruto to register every word and let them seep in.

"WHAT!?"

* * *

Sasuke stated firmly that all questions or concerns should be saved till morning if he wanted to breathe as Naruto bounded into the room looking distressed, clearly not ready for the college life. He stated simply that they'd talk about it over breakfast and would finalize some details before setting out on getting him enrolled.

"Hey, bastard?"

Naruto had questioned from one side of the bed a little while later, having finally settled in. Sasuke had officially separated them with every spare pillow he could find in the tiny apartment, and with his so-called friends (yeah, he still hadn't let it go) constantly spending the night, there were quite a few. Their barrier was then doubled with spare blankets, thus leaving them with minimal space to sleep.

But if Sasuke had to share a bed with the idiot, he was going to make sure he kept his hands and body on their side.

"Yes, idiot?" Sasuke finally replied.

Sasuke's eyes caught a figure sitting up, the outline of Naruto, and he could just make out the brightness of his summer sky blue eyes through the darkness.

There was a pause before the blond addressed him again, and Sasuke watched him ruffle his hair uneasily, "Thanks for telling me that stuff. But look, you don't have too…"

Sasuke felt a vein throb in his forehead, and his hands twitched to strangle him. He _told_ him-

"You're putting up with me so I can help my parents, so it's the least I can do to just make crap up."

"You're trying to get out of the college thing." Sasuke stated dully.

"No, I mean it. So…"

"Go to bed." Sasuke stated firmly.

Naruto laughed and flopped down roughly, "Alright, alright. Goodnight."

Sasuke simply mumbled, "Hn."

Sasuke sighed, as he lay in bed staring at the ceiling with Naruto sleeping peacefully next to him with light snores echoing around the room.

He wondered if it would be worth it to tell Tsunade he quit.

Because next time she got in his head or gave him _any_ ideas, advice or a lecture – he was going to _run_.

Because there was _a lot_ that could happen.

* * *

Author's Notes: If I had said something about Sasuke's past before, oh well. Pretend it never happened. –poof- I'll fix it when I have the time.


	9. In the Closet is A Freiendship

Chapter Nine: In the Closet is A Friendship

Author's Notes: I don't know why, but everyone stopped reading this fiction. I know people want me to speed their relationship up and all, but, they've only been together for a week. Is that why everyone stopped? I'm simply curious.

Also: I'll be absent from the 21st-31st

Warning: Same thing from the get-go

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

Chapter Nine: In the Closet is A Friendship

* * *

Day Seven:  
Status: Trouble in our run down paradise.  
Personal Notes: Kakashi, when you read this, I would like you to know that you are a bastard… _more so than Sasuke_! You just want to torture me, making me do that with him just to see us squirm. Jerk. I try to do a mercy run, and you come in, guns blazing. I hope your plane serves you fish. Yeah, I know you're allergic you prick.  
Last Note: Sasuke is a _bigger_ bastard. Fuck him. I do hope he enjoys what I did to his balls.  
Final Ending Note (I swear): He tastes like strawberries.

* * *

"What the hell are you playing at?" Naruto bit out over breakfast.

Sasuke looked angrily over the table, a glare mixed with a grimace, "Hn."

It was rather early, and the fact that Naruto was making such loud noises with his rather obnoxious voice was grating on Sasuke's nerves. He was wondering if he should just get on with it and punch him.

"College will be good for you. It's a couple of weeks so you can see what its like and see the possibilities and potential."

"I can't go to college!" Naruto snapped. His spoon dropped in his bowl, sending milk and flakes of cereal everywhere within a two foot radius.

Sasuke glared harder, "I thought you said you didn't want to work there forever."

"Yes, but…but…." Naruto's words fumbled and failed him.

"But nothing." Sasuke said in a final sort of way.

"What in the hell am I going to do then, huh?" The blond said in a rather high and irrational tone.

"Whatever you want." The raven replied simply.

Naruto tugged roughly on his already messed hair in frustration, "That's the thing! I don't _know_ what I want to do!"

Sasuke snorted in a condescending sort of way, "Join a fucking club. Most college students don't."

"And it's too late in the semes-"

"I know the Dean. He'll pull strings." Sasuke said in a bored tone. "It will give you a quick idea if you want to really do it when you're done with this company."

"So I'm going to go to college with nothing in mind. Awesome." Naruto said sourly.

Sasuke scooted his bowl of cereal away and looked across to the blond, thoroughly annoyed, "Play to your strengths. What are you good at?"

"Nothing." He replied flatly.

Sasuke deflated slightly, "Anything? If you weren't good at anything, you wouldn't be able to walk…"

The blond shrugged, "I'm good at social things."

"You're dumb." Sasuke said in a sure tone.

"Oh burn, you ass." Naruto said, seething, "I'm good with killing you in your sleep."

"If they only had murder 101." The raven replied in a dead tone.

"I'm good with cars." He shrugged.

"Alright. What else?"

"…Electrical stuff."

Sasuke stood, grabbing both bowls, and Naruto followed with the spoons, "Funny. I can only picture you blowing things up."

"I rewired most of the lighting in my old house. And I ran everything in the garage." The blond said proudly, bumping Sasuke out of the way with his hip and began doing the dishes.

Sasuke gave him an indignant look, "Why in the world would you do that?"

"The wiring in my house was really poor and I heard my mom talking about it to my dad, so I did it as a Mother's Day gift. My dad worked in the garage a lot, and it was just useful."

"So that's two. You can be a mechanic or an electrician."

Naruto shook his head with a laugh, "And I really like kids."

"Well that's not surprising. You share the same brain capacity." Sasuke smirked when Naruto threw him a dirty look, "Child care, teaching, psychology…"

"What do I tell the company?"

And that's what halted Sasuke right in his tracks. It seemed like a good idea, in all honesty, doing his one good deed for the lifetime and then going about his rather cold way. But now, he was faced with a rather awkward dilemma.

He knew how to answer it, because it was simple. He just didn't want to.

Sasuke's face contorted awkwardly, and his shoulders rolled uncomfortably, "Tell them – tell them…"

"Lord I never knew you could lose your composure." Naruto muttered with a smile cracking through.

"Tell them," Sasuke gritted out, "That you have more time to get to know me if you're at school with me. _And_…"

Naruto turned to see a slight tinge of a greenish color creep into Sasuke's face, and slid further away, "Tell them it will likely to increase our chances of sex on a daily basis."

Well no wonder he looked like he was going to vomit, "Fair enough."

"And then they can write it off as a business expense." The raven said, regaining his composure."

Naruto blinked, "Smart!"

"And what would that be my little Sparky!" Kakashi suddenly chirped, popping up from the other side of the kitchen counter and making Naruto jump and Sasuke glare.

"Uh…" Naruto paused unsurely, fingering the sponge in his hand and causing extra suds, "Sasuke asked for me to do something."

Sasuke was sure he caught a twinkle in his eye as he turned towards him, "And what might that be my little Poe."

"Poe?" Sasuke questioned without thinking.

"Ah, good question. As in Edgar Allan. I'm sure you've heard of him. You know, I hear _The Raven_ and I see your hair and I about die in a fit of giggles. Not to mention your lovely attitude and that man's wonderfully lighthearted works…"

Naruto was now bent over the sink over-washing the bowls as he tried to hide his laughter that now doubled when Kakashi put 'lighthearted' and Edger Allan Poe in the same group. But the fact that _Poe_ was Sasuke's nickname for the day was too perfect, and too funny.

"I'll kill you." Sasuke replied in an icy tone, harshly through his bared teeth with his eyes in a piercing glare.

Kakashi clapped his hands together, "Oh how delightfully thoughtful!" He chirped and sighed in a rather upbeat tone, "But I must get going back to the office. I've gotten my new phone you see, and it's seems I'm needed."

Sasuke was tempted to jump in the air and kick his heals together, instead he simply blinked.

"But, first order, what is it that our little Poe has insisted upon this fine early morning?" He said airily and too cheerfully.

Sasuke leaned against the counter, Naruto began cleaning the counter as well to give his restless hands something to do, and Sasuke's back faced Kakashi while his arms crossed his chest coolly.

"I want Naruto coming to school with me."

There was no pause, "No."

Sasuke didn't hesitate, stumble or stutter, "Not only will it give him a better chance to get to know me, but as well as a better gauge on the populous for your company. The age radius is astounding, and it would be good for your research surveys, wouldn't it?"

Kakashi smiled and let out a small laugh, "You're a smart and sly one, Mr. Uchiha. You're so right. Naruto will be able to experience the college life, and be able to log more hours and increase his chances for a sexual encounter with you. Not only that, but the research data we get from you is extremely important because it is so personal seeing as he spends the most time with you. But, the extra data would be useful."

Naruto looked up trying to conceal his hopeful eyes, and Kakashi smiled lightly at him, "And it would be good for him to look into something for when he leaves the company. We can write it off of course – But!"

Naruto stopped his immediate celebration of clapping and pumping his fist into the air, his hand mid thrust and his eyes locked on Kakashi.

"I need to go back to Headquarters Naruto, and I need to go back with visual proof that you are making progress. It's my job. You know that kiddo."

Sasuke felt as though he mentally paused as he heard the more fatherly tone that emitted from the strange man in front of him, but it was immediately slammed back on play when Kakashi spoke again.

"You know the rules, I can't watch sexual intercourse, it's…well technically it's just wrong, you taught me that. I need to see a kiss."

"No." Sasuke said fatly, his lips pulled into a flat line.

"If you don't give me proof that this is moving along, and Naruto isn't doing a 'free ride', he'll be taken off the mark and it's a good chance he'll lose his job." Kakashi stated firmly.

Naruto sent Kakashi an awed look, as if the older, grayed man wasn't supposed to speak these rules, but was trying to persuade the other in the room to show Naruto some mercy.  
Sasuke's eyes shifted to Naruto who was grimacing, his jaw clenching and unclenching and his eyelids working overtime as he rapidly blinked, and Sasuke feared that he was trying to will away tears.

Sasuke couldn't _stand_ it when people cried.

The raven looked around the apartment and realized everyone else left for school or work some time ago, and shot Kakashi a withering look, "_One_ kiss?"

"Just one."

Sasuke stepped forward quickly and lowered his head to make up for the height difference, and somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he could add short jokes to his list of insults now.

He jammed his hands into the pockets of his pajama pants and was tempted to head butt Naruto when he hadn't looked up yet, but he would suffice with words.

"Hey, dobe." He said under his breath, "Look up."

Naruto peaked up from under his bangs, as if thoroughly embarrassed by something, and Sasuke rolled his eyes completely annoyed, "Damn you Naruto," He hissed, only so they could hear, "just kiss me."

The blond snorted, "Don't get mad, but I couldn't resist with making you say it."

Sasuke threw one last indignant look before Naruto leaned forward, and titled his head up just enough and pressed their lips together.

Sasuke noticed right away, by the fact of not closing his eyes completely, that he really did have long eyelashes that looked like gold. His skin seemed to have every available follicle a perfect tan that didn't overtake him, that made his blond locks stick out and shine more brightly.

And the last thing Sasuke noticed before he finally pulled away was that his lips were soft like diving head first into the clouds.

Sasuke pulled back and unconsciously licked his lips, ignoring the babble of Kakashi saying that was perfect for the company and his goodbyes, and immediately noticed one thing.

Naruto tasted like sugar.

He _hated_ sugar.

Sasuke turned to look at Naruto as he laughed loudly and obnoxiously when Kakashi picked up his bag and it fell apart, and suddenly realized with a frightening jolt that he didn't mind sugar all that much anymore.

Or maybe, it just so happened to be Naruto.

* * *

Sasuke set off to school and work after a quick shower after a few last Poe jokes from Kakashi, and a few more kissing remarks from Naruto. Apparently kissing the empty headed ass gave him balls or something, because he suddenly had enough courage to crack more jokes than normal.

It crossed Sasuke's mind a few times to kiss him as he shuffled around the apartment getting ready, just to shut him the fuck up, but thought better of it.  
Sasuke left Naruto home with the promises of taking him to the college tomorrow seeing as how he had a day off from both school and work, and it would be the perfect day, and that seemed the remedy to shut him up.

"I didn't finalize it with Kakashi! The money!" Naruto fretted (or tried to excuse), as he bounded off the couch.

"He has a phone, call him." Sasuke said simply, "Or I will."

The blond gave a _pfft_, "Yeah, right. How can you…if…"

Sasuke was waving the scribbled number that was on a piece of paper, with a scorch mark that was added from where he had put a few hearts and x's and o's.

"Damn you…" Naruto growled.

Sasuke leaned in closely, crossing his personal threshold and getting in his face with a cocky little smile as their noses almost brushed, "Next time, dobe, don't taunt me. And _never_ make it so I have to say something just to save your ass. That's ungrateful."

The blond blushed, "Damn your vengeful."

"In my blood." He replied simply.

"Are you going to get out of my face now?" Naruto questioned lightly, wondering if he should dance with death today and steal a kiss.

"Not so fun now, is it dobe?"

So, Naruto being Naruto did the one and only thing he could think of and leaned forward in a flash and licked up Sasuke's cheek as sloppily as he could as quickly as possible.

The raven grimaced as he ran his palm down his face and then the sleeve of his coat before he locked eyes with Naruto, and the blond got the immediate hint, and ran with Sasuke right behind him.

* * *

Naruto wouldn't be surprised if Sasuke was late for class when the bastard finally left, awkward air billowing behind him, and hanging over Naruto. The blond would admit that it was damn worth licking him to see the cockiness wiped clean. It was hilarious. It was fun running around the apartment, and even funnier when Sasuke tripped and practically went flying on the rug. Naruto still chuckled over the midair grunt. The collision with the floor was better, because it gave him time to point and laugh. Apparently too much time, because the bastard had time to get up off the ground and tackle him.

And Naruto realized that's when the awkward set in.

When Sasuke was lying on top of him and Naruto was chuckling, and surprisingly enough, he was chuckling too. Their faces were close to each other, their breaths were coming in huffs, meeting in mid air and the intimacy of the situation seemed to snap the two of them out of it.

Sasuke snapped back immediately, and got up and before he even had time to think about extending a hand, Naruto hopped up after him.

"You need to get going to school."

"I have work after that, so I'll be home late. Don't forget to feed yourself." Sasuke added in his usual tone, the lighthearted air completely gone.

"Uh, any chores?"

"Nope."

"B-" Naruto pursed his lips as the door slammed.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The day dragged on rather slowly. Naruto realized without anything to do, he was damn bored. He made a paper hat out of a newspaper article that Shikamaru was cussing over, and wore it around the apartment. He watched endless amounts of _Spanish_ television though he didn't know what was happening. He acted some of it out, and tried to repeat some of the things they had said. He figured with all the dramatic music it must be damn good. He also figured any more silicone on the show and the world would fucking end.

Sasuke called once and said something about coming home at some point before work to eat, but Naruto was so busy watching television he hadn't caught when, and before he had time to say something into the phone the bastard had hung up.

The blond finally set out to do _something_ after he ate a late lunch, and he figured it would be rather useful if he unpacked his clothes instead of leaving them in Shikamaru's room.  
Naruto opened the closet in Sasuke's room, dead set on putting his clothes in there instead of living out of his suitcase out of Shikamaru's room. The white wooden door slid open with a rather obnoxious whirring noise from the metal tracks, and Naruto found that the light in the walk in closet was out. He set out throughout the apartment and found the hall closet where they stored the essentials such as light bulbs. He grabbed one with a smile and a thought in his mind of being a small bit of help, and went back towards Sasuke's room.

He had to stand on the tips of his toes on his suitcase to reach it, and almost broke the cover to the bulb with his fumbling fingers, but he had usefully changed the light. He then flicked the switch at the mouth of the closet with a smile, and found something that was more like a storage room than something for clothes.

One bar on the left held a rack of clothes, but Naruto figured that most of Sasuke's clothes that he wore on a daily basis were kept in the dresser next to his bed. His shoes, which Naruto wasn't aware he owned more than one pair, where in their shoe boxes neatly stacked with Polaroid pictures glued to the front for lesser digging.

The right side of the closet was an assortment of memories and stowaway thoughts. On the top shelf above a bar for clothes, Naruto's eyes met trophy after trophy. He saw a little golden man kicking high in the air, and knew it was for some sort of marital arts. His eyes fell on another with someone kicking at a ball on the ground, and almost laughed at the thought of a scowling Sasuke kicking his way down the field in soccer. He easily spotted the basketball trophies, as it was the largest of them all. There were academic awards that Naruto could tell had just been tossed up there, and he gently fixed them so they were showing proudly. Absently he grabbed a dirty shirt of his and dusted off all the awards sloppily.

He then glanced down at the bar and noticed all the old uniforms, and ones that seemed to be still used. His martial arts uniform seemed to be his size, and Naruto wondered if he still went when he had time, or if he had to give it up because of a lack there of.

He noticed all the old sports teams from school, and the county he played for. He saw belts for his martial arts hanging up neatly. Packed under the bar was an assortment of things. Sports balls like a soccer ball and a basketball, and Naruto even found a tennis ball and a racket, a baseball and a bat. He found a sword with growing eyes, nun chucks, and a rather large assortment of weapons, and thought quickly that he should stop being a nuisance to Sasuke.

Death was closer than he knew apparently.

In the back of the closet though, in the far corner shoved next to a few boxes that Naruto assumed had a wonderful assortment of things he had to explore another time, was his instruments. He played more than he said, just like with sports. Naruto shook his head and wondered if the bastard was good at everything. He didn't see how it was possible to be shadowed by Itachi.

He crouched in front of the tiniest case and opened it to find a flute, and wondered if he should make a comment about this being shove up Sasuke's ass, and it being to blame for his asshole attitude. The next he opened was the clarinet, then the cello, then the violin, and then the biggest was a cloth case that obviously held his guitar. It seemed Sasuke favored it most with rips, tares and patches all over it.

Naruto ran his fingers along the word _Taylor_ with a small smile.

"I stopped playing when my parents found out I wanted to be a teacher."

The blond whipped around, and with his rather awkward and uncomfortable crouching position, promptly fell on his butt.

Apparently it was time for Sasuke to come home before work.

Sasuke was leaning against the frame of the door with one eyebrow raised as Naruto rubbed at both shins muttering something about '_pins and needles_'.  
His onyx eyes drifted to the suitcase that had been abandoned near the entrance, and then raked over the rest of the closet searching for things out of place only to land on the trophy shelf. He noticed things having been rearranged so everything could show more proudly, everything having been dusted off, and Naruto's abandoned shirt on the floor.

"What are you doing in here dobe?"

Naruto smacked his legs a little more, "Putting my stuff away!" He said in a rather defensive tone, "Shikamaru's _always_ sleeping. I can never get to it."

Sasuke looked like he was about to say something, his eyes fixed in a glare before he pushed off the doorframe with his shoulder and grabbed at Naruto's suitcase and walked further into the closet.

Sasuke pressed the uniforms from his sports roughly against the wall to squish them together to make for more room, "There are spare hangers in the box over there."

Naruto followed the finger that was pointing to the cardboard box that had the large and perfect writing that said _'Extra_'.

The blond sat up on his knees and opened the box, digging through extra printer paper and notebook paper, pencils and pens, a box of extra silverware and underneath some more at the bottom of the box were the wire hangers.

Naruto yanked them out and loudly proclaimed, brandishing one with a wicked face, "NO MORE WIRE HANGERS!"

Sasuke's head yanked back, his eyes shrinking into a dangerous glare as he yanked the hanger away and bending it into an unrecognizable shape, "Stop shouting!"

"So…" Naruto said, moving aside a box of training knives, "You training to take over the country?"

"No, just trying to take back my sanity," Sasuke muttered, helping him move aside things to make room.

"So, obviously you do everything under the sun, teme." Naruto said sitting back on his feet and gesturing towards the things in the closet, "Ever have a life?"

Sasuke sat back on his feet and glared, "There came a point in time that, no, I didn't. Happy?"

Naruto shrunk at the icy tone, "_Alright_. Well, why did you take up _so_ many things? Did you have a childhood? I thought you said you only did this and that, why did you do all of this?"

"Look dobe." Sasuke started with a snappish and cold tone, "I don't feel like explaining away my past and my closet just so you can report back to your mother ship."

"Oh! No, I didn't-"

Sasuke moved away a rather expensive looking sword with a _clunk_ as it smacked against the wall, "There's space."

Naruto felt the corners of his mouth tug into a frown as Sasuke smoothly stood with flawless ease and walked out of the little closet that seemed the place where he closed away his life.

* * *

"I should dock your pay." Tsunade said dully at the end of the night.

Sasuke put his crossed arms on the last table that needed to be cleaned that they currently sat at, the two of them enjoying a drink. "Why's that?"

"I'm like an unpaid therapist. Does Shikamaru feel my pain?" She asked in a teasing tone.

"The lazy fuck is either tired or asleep. Remember his last remedy for my social life?" Sasuke took a sip of the beer and set the glass down, "Imagine if we actually talked."

"Well, why did he bug you so much this time?" Tsunade asked, sipping her glass of wine that she had put in a highball glass.

The raven made a disgruntled face and sounded as if he growled before speaking, "He asks too many questions."

Tsunade giggled, twirling the deep colored liquid in her glass with a shake of her head and a smile on her face, "Didn't you tell me he _had_ to?"

"No. Well, technically yes." Sasuke said in a frustrating tone, "What I'm getting at is-"

"You're an annoying one Uchiha." She chuckled. "He's asking the personals, right?"

Sasuke nodded, an almost innocent look crawling on his face.

"That's never happened before, right? Those kids you hang out with now have never cared about who you are and why, right? They just like the bastard you for whatever reason. And

Shika knew you since you were two feet tall."

"And since he first learned how to pronounce 'troublesome'." Sasuke muttered.

She snorted, "What I'm getting at is that you aren't used to it. So here comes along someone who is now in your life, who actually has a few things in common with you, and you don't know one major thing."

Sasuke looked up from his glass with eyes that were filled with question, "Hn."

"You don't know if he's asking this stuff about you because he has to, because it's his job, or you don't know if he's doing it because he's genuinely curious just like you are, but you aren't willing to admit. Because face it Sasuke, a few things in common usually leads to the domino effect."

The raven lessoned his glare that had snapped into position once she had mentioned he was interested in getting to know Naruto. It was, in fact, false. Maybe.

"Domino effect?"

She smiled gently, "C.S. Lewis once said_ 'Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one.'_, and with that, you get a domino effect. You consciously or unconsciously start looking for things you have in common with each other."

Sasuke scowled at her and firmly set his glass down on the table with a loud and hard _clunk_ to add emphasis to the point he was _not_ trying to befriend or get to know the idiot known as Naruto, and as silently as possible.

"Naruto, as loud-mouthed and absentminded as you little friend is-"

"He isn't--" Sasuke tried to say, but was over-talked by Tsunade.

"Which by the way I can tell by the one and only meeting I had with the little idiot, I can tell he's the one who would be consciously making the effort to get to know you. Now despite the fact of what you're worrying about, he's trying to get to know you without the pretense of work. He found someone who had something in common with him that hit a hard spot in his life – it's typical."

Sasuke sighed, and reaffirmed the notion of not ever coming to Tsunade again. She never shut the fuck up.

"And you." She stated firmly.

Sasuke looked up having at some point, placed his head in his hands and grabbed at his hair.

"You are closed off, and when someone comes along that you unwillingly take a liking to, you unconsciously will get to know them. One thing will spur you on to tell them something about yourself in hopes they will share something in return, or you're doing so because they have."

"I forgot you were a damn psychology major…" Sasuke muttered.

But, despite what she continued to rant on as she sipped on her wine and she flailed the glass...

She might be right.

Sasuke might just so happen to be getting to know Naruto – willingly.

* * *

Naruto was in front of the television once again when Sasuke arrived home late that night from work, tired and borderline exhausted. The blond was in front of the television, mumbling foul words, his shoulders jumping and his hands shooting up in the air immediately after.

"The hell are you doing, idiot?"

Naruto whipped his head around, his blond locks wet from a shower, and a few strands sticking to his face while the other flung drops at the quick action. "Watching television. I made you dinner."

"How did you know I would be home now?" Sasuke just had to ask, though he had a feeling he knew.

"Tsunade called, and said 'The whiney bitch is on his way home dipshit, take care of him', and so I made you some food!" Naruto hopped off the couch, where he had microwave some more of the special company food that seemed rather indestructible.

"What are you watching?" Sasuke asked, eyeing the television and missing Naruto present the food like some type of proud child.

"Oh," Naruto's shoulders dropped slightly, "It's the X Games."

Sasuke turned, eyeing Naruto skeptically, "You _watch_ this stuff?"

The blond scowled at the disgusted tone, "Yeah, surprising right."

Sasuke jumped slightly when the blond sloppily dropped the bread bowl in his hands that seemed to be filled with a fettuccini alfredo. Naruto tossed him a fork with a dirty look before going back to the couch, jumping over the back, and settling in with his arms crossed.

Sasuke looked over one shoulder and then the other, looking for the thing that caused the sudden and odd mood shift. He dared to join Naruto on the couch but Naruto snapped at him in a mocking tone, "Oh, I thought you didn't want to watch this _stuff_."

Sasuke spared a few extra blinks, as he stared at Naruto, "Did I say something wrong?"

"You talked like it was shit on your shoe you prick."

"Or your cooking." Sasuke commented off handedly.

"Yeah, well these athletes are far fucking better than you, dirtbag." Naruto spat.

That seemed to have prodded the beast enough to snap Sasuke back to reality, "Excuse me? You really think a bunch of dumb punks can actually play a _real_ sport?"  
"_Punks_? Some of these people have been to the Olympics! Jealous because you can't be apart of the dream team?" Naruto said in the most condescending tone he could muster.

It seemed to be the tone, or the fact that he took a shot at the sports, or the fact that he took a shot at the sports and the fact that he didn't do well enough in them. _Something_.  
Maybe, just maybe, it was the fact that Tsunade had a damn point.

Either way, Sasuke was fucking pissed.

Despite how good the bread bowl actually looked, Sasuke found it looked a lot better on Naruto's face. It proved even better as he rammed it against it, and heard the squelching noise of the sauce and noodles hitting his skin.

The blond didn't hesitate in wiping the food from his face and launching from one end of the couch to the other, ready to pummel Sasuke into an oblivion.  
But, Sasuke's reflexes from years of martial arts caught Naruto and threw him from the couch with simplistic ease.

Naruto though, just as his side smacked on the ground, reached his balled up fist and smacked Sasuke in the once place he was supposed to be taking the most care of.  
The raven hunched over, while Naruto laid on the ground nursing his shoulder and deciding to take his shirt off to clean his dirty face.

"Well, I should just stay home from now on, huh?" Shikamaru called from the doorway, "Troublesome."

* * *

Naruto laid on one side of the pillow/blanket barrier while Sasuke did the same. Kiba, Chouji and Shino were staying the night and were currently holding up the living room and Shikamaru's floor. The room was abnormally quite, even for Naruto who usually couldn't keep his mouth shut when around someone who could so much as just motion back.

"Sorry I said what I said about the sports," Naruto whispered, "And the nut shot and all."

Only silence met him, and tempted as he was to look over the even taller barrier to see if Sasuke was awake or asleep, he knew better.

"I qualified for _X Games_ a few years back, I qualified in Wakeboarding and in BMX in best trick." Naruto whispered, then decided to stop, figuring Sasuke was either too pissed to listen to him, or actually asleep.

"Hn." Sasuke sounded from the other side, sounding perfectly awake.

The blond jumped slightly, turning to look at the pillows as if it would show him the bastard, "Do you know what Wake is or BMX?"

"Yes, dobe."

"Right, you know everything." Naruto said bitterly, crossing his arms.

"So, you got offended because…?" Sasuke asked in his dead tone.

"Well," Naruto turned to say something and look at him, but growled and threw away some pillows from the bed till he found the bastard who looked downright exhausted, "You need to go to bed."

"I almost became bankrupt because of your annoyance-"

Naruto laughed, "Or your temper."

"Now, why did you get offended?" Sasuke bit, turning his head limply.

Naruto refused to laugh at the tired look that crossed his face with the half lidded eyes and the barely parted lips.

"I was offended because I worked my tail off to get there. Other championships aren't shit compared to that one. But I couldn't go."

"Your parents."

"Yeah." Naruto said distantly.

"So, you couldn't do the sports you liked because of your parents and their running, and I did too many I didn't like because of mine." Sasuke said, shaking his head and pressing his palm to his forehead.

"What? You didn't like them? You did enough of them."

Sasuke snorted, "How would you feel coming home to a house where no one wants to see you? It's better to just fill up your schedule so you barely have to come home."

Naruto parted his lips to say something else but watched Sasuke's eyelids flutter the rest of the way shut, and just like that, he had fallen asleep.

The blond smiled gently, getting up and walking around to set Sasuke's alarm before heading to the bathroom, and thought that maybe it wasn't all that bad that he had been assigned Sasuke.

In fact, he was really starting to like it.

* * *

Author's Notes: I didn't intend for them to kiss so early, but, Kakashi is Kakashi.  
-No, it won't be a music based fanfiction, or sports, but the things they are interested in will pop up briefly and I _mean_ brief. I tried to fit sports to Naruto and things to Sasuke that seemed to fit them.  
-_Taylor_ is a real guitar.  
-As for the drama, little things will pop up from time to time in each chapter as they get to know each other. So, if you don't like it, I hope to see you at my next fiction.


	10. A Student is An Annoyance

Chapter Ten: A Student is An Annoyance

Author's Notes: I figured I'd give you all an accurate day in which Naruto is on in the calendar year, so you aren't so confused. Yeah, yeah, I should have saved it for Christmas, but sometimes when it's so hot outside, I just want to think of the cold. SHORTER CHAPTER.

Warnings/ Disclaimer: I warn you, it's just the same, and I disclaim.

Dedication: To my muses – Jen and Taylor. I love you both.

Chapter Ten: A Student is An Annoyance

* * *

Day Eight, _December 11th_:

Status: Apparently, I should give the bastard food every time he's in a crappy mood.

Sexual Experience: Can I write off a kiss as third base?

Personality: He's melting, melting! Ha!

Last Note: He's still a bastard to go through with the college thing.

* * *

"Let me see your test scores, I just talked to he dean. Apparently, after talking to Tsunade, he thinks it's the funniest idea he's heard in a long time." Sasuke said bitterly.

Naruto stood on the tips of his toes to peer over Sasuke's shoulder, his eyes trying to get a better glimpse of the paper or his expression. Instead, it was greeted by a coffee cup that was thrust in his face the message _Contents Hot…_were the only thing he could currently take in before he took the cup away instantly grateful when it began to warm his cold hands.

"It's hot chocolate. You said you like chocolate." Sasuke said as he began to briskly move away with or without Naruto.

The blond followed, wrapped in a long winter coat that was a deep jet black and lined with a warm fleece that he had stolen from Sasuke's closet that had easily become too small for him. He still had on his bright orange knitted hat and his scarf that was wrapped around his neck.

They weaved in and around the crowd of students and through the maze of halls, Sasuke moving flawlessly and Naruto tripping and half-jogging just to keep up. The blond spotted the door that read _Guidance_ just as Sasuke strode through it, a few girls standing back giggling to let him pass through.

"Sit down." He said softly so no one else would hear, but in a commanding way that made Naruto glare.

He flopped in a seat and watched Sasuke walk up to a computer and nodded politely to an old woman who addressed him from the front desk.  
It seemed like the time it took Naruto to blink it took that long for Sasuke to sign in at the computer for him, and he was sitting next to him at that moment. He sighed before sipping on his coffee, intent of getting this bit out of the way.

"Shizune is a good friend of Tsunade's. Try not to get me fired on my day off."

Naruto was somehow reminded of the movie _Friday_ and was going to ask Sasuke loudly '_Wha chu stealin' boxes fo'?_', but the dark aura surrounding him from the staring, giggling girls made Naruto think otherwise.

"Tsunade, your boss, knows a guidance councilor at a college?" He asked, trying to steer Sasuke's deathly glare from the dimwitted girls who started to wave.

"They go way back. Just like her and the Dean." Sasuke grumbled. "Between them, and the professors' cooperation, you'll be able to get an idea of college. It's going to be short lived, a few classes, but it will give you the ideas and drive to do it when you get home."

Naruto let out a pitiful excuse for a laugh that had Sasuke turning to look at him while he stared down at his cup, "Dumb teme, I don't have a home."

Sasuke was about to give his usual grunt and punch the idiot upside the head when a sweet looking woman with short hair poked her head out of her office.

"Naruto Uzumaki!"

Naruto's head snapped up and around, taking in the woman's kind expression before he felt Sasuke's hand wrap around his upper arm and yank him up and saw his hand usher him forward. He should have thanked him really, because if not, he would have pretended to not exist and sink into the chair before rushing out.

They walked into the small office, and no one bothered to even shut the door behind themselves. Sasuke took the seat closest to the door, while Naruto took the seat closest to the desk. The blond watched as the woman took out a stack of stick notes and looked up at him with a slight scowl.

She had heard about the 'old hag' comment.

"Alright, what major are you interested in?" The woman asked briskly, her stern face rather intimidating, and her eyes boring into Naruto's.

He stammered slightly from sheer nervousness, "I-I…" He cleared his throat, "I'm interested in something like child care. Or maybe even…" Naruto didn't even want to look at Sasuke,

"Teaching Elementary."

The woman smiled tenderly, her stern face diminishing, "I can see that perfectly. Now, I've spoken with the Dean about your special case. Three classes for the part-time, only for before the Christmas holiday, sound good?"

Naruto nodded with a grimace, still nervous, "What about prior educational… you know… whatever?"

She laughed lightly, "It's community college dear. Mr. Uchiha here will tell you it doesn't matter really, and we'll take about anyone. _But_, that doesn't mean to slack. These are some of the starting places where you start so you can transfer to all the Universities."

She handed over a list of schools, all of their names printed in bold, and next to them their location in the country.

"These are the locations in which your credits will transfer. So, we're happy to have you here for a little while."

Naruto looked over at Sasuke and grinned, "A little?"

Sasuke sighed, "Don't get ahead of yourself."

* * *

Naruto smiled brightly as they were seated in the restaurant that afternoon, Sasuke not having to work and enjoying the day off.

"Your Dean didn't have to do this…" Naruto commented as he looked over the menu.

The raven sighed, "Jiraiya doesn't mind doing favors. He and Tsunade go back to when they were children."

The blond sighed, "I just feel indebted."

Sasuke snorted, "Trust me, you aren't. Once I told him about your first encounter with Tsunade, he was more than excited to help."

"That's what hooked him?"

"No, he owed me one favor. I explained to him that you wanted to further your horizons and better your chances in life, and he proceeded to tell me absolute nonsense about a book, and then finally agreed since he owed me."

"Why did he owe you?" Naruto asked, carrying on the conversation.

"I helped him win over a certain hag a few years ago." Sasuke smirked with a head shake. "Despite how much she says she hates him, says they aren't together and all that nonsense; you can tell-" Sasuke sighed, cutting himself off, "I just did him a favor."

"What?" Naruto asked, throwing his elbows on the table and propping up his head in both hands, "_If_ you don't mind my asking."

Sasuke paused for a moment and considered chuckling, and absently, in the back of his mind knew that Tsunade was right.

He would _die_ before admitting it.

"I played piano for them." Sasuke said simply, sinking back into the booth, "So they could dance."

Naruto dropped his head onto the table, making the raven flinch, "You play piano _too_. Anything else that you can do, teme?"

"Strangle you."

"I get it, I get it." Naruto said, waving him off. "Why do you like guitar more than the others?"

Sasuke looked towards him from gazing out the window at the angry gray sky, coming out of his thoughts of how much time they had before the sky opened up and poured down snow, sleet or something more unpleasant – freezing rain.

"Hn." Sasuke rested his elbows on the table childishly as well before flopping his arms down, "I thought you could have figured that one out dobe."

"I like to hear you talk." Naruto chuckled.

"It was the only thing I did that wasn't to impress someone."

There was a semi-comfortable air for a while. The two of them looked like children the way their arms rested on the table. Naruto watched the people in the restaurant; a crowd around the fire that rested in the middle, a few passing by and staring openly at the opened kitchen and a rowdy group watched a hockey game on their break at the bar. Sasuke kept his eyes towards the sky, his lips twitching, bunched towards the side of his mouth occasionally in irritation when he thought he saw a flake of snow.

"Naruto?"

The blond turned, his eyebrows raised lightly as Sasuke continued, "Why did you do the sports that you did?"

Naruto chuckled, and even decided to taunt death, and reached across the table to ruffle Sasuke's hair, "I thought you could have figured that one out teme."

Sasuke smirked, "Your voice annoys me."

The blond glared, "Fine."

"It's nice to feel free, isn't it dobe?"

Naruto kicked at Sasuke's shin underneath the table, "I thought you said you didn't know!"

"When did I say that?"

"Bastard."

* * *

"Say Sasuke?" Naruto asked, shivering against the cold wind that wiped against him.

The raven sighed, noting that the little idiot didn't have his seven layers of warmth during this outing, and he had said he was used to the warmth of the south. He started undoing the buttons of his coat and looked over at the blond who had his head bowed, the hat not doing much.

"What is it?"

"What _aren't_ you good at?" Naruto asked, peaking up.

Sasuke took his coat and slid it off as they walked with the flow of the crowd, and easily draping it over Naruto's head leaving him temporarily blinded and having his coarse run right into a trashcan.

Naruto moved the warm coat up from his eyes and glared at the man who was smirking, his hands shoved in the pockets of his jeans and receiving dirty looks from passersby as he stood in their way.

"Come on, idiot."

Naruto trotted to catch up, and gave him a disbelieving look, "Aren't you cold?"

Sasuke shrugged, a black sweater clinging to his form. "Hn."

"Do you like any _real_ colors?" Naruto asked lightly, skipping along with Sasuke's coat flapping behind him.

"What about you," Sasuke glanced next to him, "Batman's rejected sidekick. Do you like any _real_ colors?"

"Orange is a _great_ color!" Naruto protested.

"For what? Blind people?"

"Ooo. Great insult." The blond mocked in a deeper voice, waving his hands and trotting behind them as they made their way back to the apartment.

* * *

Naruto handed over a steaming cup to Sasuke who was sitting on the floor, in front of the coffee table. He had books spread out in front of him along with binders of notes, that to Naruto, looked far to organized for his own good. Sasuke took it absently and continued his studying, the blond remembering somewhere in the back of his mind that he had an exam or test of some sort coming up.

The blond set down on the couch behind him, peering over his shoulder and nibbling on his bottom lip as he took in the complex books and the difficult books.

"What is it now, dobe?" Sasuke sighed, rubbing at his eyes.

Naruto shrugged, and plopped his chin down on Sasuke's shoulder, "Worried."

Sasuke rolled his shoulder and then reached up and shoved his head away, "_Must_ you? Go worry somewhere else if you're going to be like that."

The blond plopped over on the couch, pouting before kneeing the back of Sasuke's head, "Must _you_?"

Sasuke turned, glaring at Naruto and rubbing at the back of his head, his reading glasses askew.

"You wear glasses?" Naruto asked, sounding floored.

"How much longer are you going to keep up this question nonsense?" Sasuke asked sounding irritated.

"A while." He replied simply, shrugging and turning to lie on his back, "You're making this teaching thing hotter by the second."

Sasuke growled and turned back around fuming, trying to focus back on his work.

"Name three things you _aren't_ good at, teme. Just three." Naruto said playfully, nudging Sasuke's head with his foot.

"Cooking Italian food, speaking Spanish, and fixing my computer," The raven mumbled.

Naruto smiled up at the ceiling, "I'm not good at playing instruments, drawing, or being quiet."

Sasuke snorted.

"What?"

"Some things are horribly obvious dobe. Now why do you keep going on with this question nonsense?" Sasuke sighed, setting down his reading glasses and glaring at the clock.

Naruto shrugged, "The idea of someone understanding and knowing me sounds promising."

"Dobe," Sasuke said, standing and knowing it was time for bed, "_No one_ is going to be able to understand that thick head of yours."

* * *

Sasuke was pretty surprised to find the room absolutely silent as they laid down to go to sleep that night. Usually, Naruto would pester him about nonsense, talking into the night until Sasuke would firmly to tell him to sleep as if having to deal with a child. But tonight, for some reason, it was quiet. Sasuke could hear the cars on the street below zoom by, he'd hear the distant car alarms going off, and he heard a few people yelling – just like usual. But since Naruto, he hadn't been able to hear it. And since Naruto had started sleeping in his _room_, he'd only been able to hear talking, laughter, which faded into soft snores.

He was surprised that it took him so long to figure out why Naruto was quiet, and that the idiot was lying awake on the other side of the make-shift barrier and was actually silent.

"Are you that worried about school?" Sasuke asked, feeling as though he was talking more to himself than Naruto.

It was silent for a few minutes, and for awhile Sasuke thought he was mistaken and Naruto was, in fact, asleep, but the quiet and tiny voice that replied told him otherwise.  
It sounded as if it were a little kid talking, scared for their first day ever of school, instead of the loud and obnoxious man on the other side of the barrier.

"Yes…"

"Hn." Sasuke turned his head, eyeing the pillows and looking at them as if he'd be able to see the blond through them. For some reason, he kept picturing Naruto panicking.

"Why?"

Sasuke was tempted to smack his palm to his forehead, hard enough to leave a mark even. This routine of questions and answers must have finally taken its toll on his brain, because here he was, interacting with the idiot.

He heard Naruto sigh before he watched the blond sit up, and frowned when he noticed the asshole took off his shirt. He watched he curve of his back, his shoulders move up and hold before dropping as he sighed again, and watched as Naruto rubbed at the hair on his head in frustration.

"I'm no good at school…I'm not like you! Come on, _one_ B? Yeah Sasuke, I got a B once, _once_. But the rest weren't A's. I don't have a gifted brain _made_ for school. Say it with me…_idiot_."

"Calm down."

"NO! I will not _calm down_." Naruto said turning and facing him in the darkness, "Do you know what it's like, having a teacher call on you for the _easiest_ problem and you don't know it. Oh wait, you don't."

Sasuke pursed his lips, before blowing out a big burst of air in annoyance, "You'll do fine."

"And here I am, supposed to get some fucking sleep, and Professor over here wants me to sleep on limited next to nothing worth of shit of bed space." Naruto growled, shoving at the barrier.

Sasuke glared into the darkness and wondered if it was the jitters getting a hold of his tongue or just an excuse.

But, as Sasuke watched Naruto throw his head in his hands, he recognized that same frustration and jitters. Trying to live up to your own unsaid expectation and leaving yourself scared.

"Alright, let's compromise." Sasuke said, sighing.

Sasuke watched Naruto go rigid, "You actually know that word?"

Sasuke was going to _kill_ Tsunade.

"I'll take all this crap off the bed, if you put your clothes back on."

"Oh deal!" Naruto said, jumping up and easily sporting neon bright, glow in the dark orange boxers.

"AND!" Sasuke snapped, "Keep to your side of the bed dobe. I mean it. Kakashi left, I don't have to live with this."

Nauruto dove back onto the bed, diving underneath the covers with a grin as he faced Sasuke, "I get it. Sounds good. How about another compromise?"

"No."

Naruto threw his hands up under the covers, "Come on! Just one."

"Will you shut up?"

"Yes."

"Hn." Sasuke said, flipping over and turning his back to him.

"How about I do one thing you're really interested in and you do one thing I'm really interested in?"

"No. Sex." Sasuke pulled the covers up to a more comfortable level, easily covering up Naruto's face.

"NO! I'm serious!" Naruto whined.

"Let's see how you do tomorrow in school, then we'll talk."

"Alright," Naruto smiled lightly, "Who knew you could compromise."

Sasuke sighed into the dark, just as sleep was about to over take him, "Yeah, who knew."

A few blocks over, Tsunade was sure that hell had just frozen over.

* * *

Author's Notes: The Friday comment, in the movie, he got fired on his day off for stealing boxes (cardboard), and the line Naruto wanted to quote was the taunting line.  
Shameless Promotion: Just right of Perfect = ALLTF sequel. Read It, love it, review it.


	11. To Compromise is to Change

Chapter Eleven: To Compromise Is To Change

Author's Notes: Sorry for such a long wait, but obviously I had a reason. I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things, but it's still difficult, so I hope you'll all still be very patient with me.

Warnings/Disclaimer: Been there, done that.

Chapter Eleven: To Compromise Is To Change

* * *

Day Nine, _December 12__th_:

Status: Musically scarred, and recovering.

Sexual experience: Still recovering from that anti-social, not-take-a-joke jackass.

Personality: Underneath the exterior of douchebag-ness and fuck-tardary, I think there might be a _real_ person in there. Fucking crazy.

Last Note: I need to get out of the habit of singing in the shower…

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Sasuke stood outside of the college at one thirty, waiting for Naruto as he leaned against his car in the parking lot. He was surprised alright, that was for sure. The fact that his 'brilliant' scheme went through was surprising to him; like Jiraiya going for it, the company paying for it, and everything falling into place so quickly it almost gave Naruto a heart attack. It was only so Naruto could get a simple taste of college, that was it, and maybe if he was smart enough, continue when he was done here with Sasuke.

The raven unclenched his jaw and wondered absently why it clenched.

Before he had any time to look into the action further, he saw a mess of blond hair blazing through the parking lot, and he knew instantly it was Naruto dying to get the hell out of dodge.

He sighed, and then decided against everything and went out of his way to yell at the blond as he was about to streak past him, "Dobe!"

Sasuke could have swore he heard breaks screech before he whipped around and beamed, looking partly flustered and barely holding onto his English book and his notebook. It took a fraction of a second for the joy to switch over to complete confusion, "You have a car?"

Sasuke nodded slowly, reaching forward and taking the text book and notebook from him, "Get in the car."

"When did you car? I was only in that class for two hours!" Naruto asked, dumbfounded.

Sasuke rounded the car, and stopped at the trunk with Naruto at his heels, "Wait? You don't take the bus to school? _I_ had to take the city bus! I thought I was going to die trying to find my way out of this parking lo-"

"Naruto." Sasuke cut in, "Why is it out of all your notes, Christmas vacation is the biggest of them all?"

The blond shrugged, "'Tis the season? Now, why have you been hiding this car?" Naruto asked, tapping the trunk of the car in appreciation.

"I only use it to get to my University. That's it. I don't need to run it into the ground and go bankrupt from gas, parking garages and unnecessary mechanic bills."

Naruto's face was twisted, his lip curling and his brows raised, "Leave it to you to be uptight about _everything_."

Sasuke dug his key into the trunk lock, and sighed, "I bought one that seemed to suit you."

Naruto's eyebrows rose even higher, hiding behind his hanging bangs, at the odd sentence, "What are you talking about."

"I said I would see to your compromise depending on school today. You actually went, so…"

Naruto didn't notice the puff of white that was his breath that was released in the air once Sasuke opened the trunk. He didn't realize he had held his breath until he let it all out into one big fuzzy cloud. When it cleared, he was greeted by a pleasant sight.

In the trunk lay Sasuke's guitar in its usual case with its patches and rips showing almost proudly. Absently, Naruto realized that this case was so unlike the prim and proper Uchiha that Sasuke was supposed to be.

But, next to it, there was another guitar case and Naruto paused before snapping his head over to Sasuke, "You're kidding, right?"

"Something that I enjoy, so I'll teach you _something_." Sasuke said simply, "I needed to look for new strings anyway."

If Naruto wasn't so shocked, he would have laughed at the lame excuse to go wherever the guitar store was, and buy him his own. But, Naruto stamped down that hope right there, because for all he knew Sasuke was going to keep it when they were done.

Sasuke shut the trunk gently; as if afraid it would collapse and break the guitars, "You better enjoy this dobe, because I already have a Gibson."

"What?" Naruto said, shaking out of a deep stupor, thinking about Sasuke actually going this far.

"The guitar, I already said it. It's yours. Now get in the car, your shivering."

Naruto looked down and noticed that he was, indeed shivering, because he had indeed, forgot his coat in the classroom.

"SHIT!"

* * *

"I've never seen you run so fast dobe." Sasuke commented upon entering the apartment, his guitar slung on his shoulder and Naruto's in his case and being carried in his hand.

"I'm not losing that coat. Do you know how cold I am here? How can you stand it?" Naruto said, stripping himself out of Sasuke's old coat that he had found hanging in the closet.

Sasuke put the hard case down at Naruto's feet and set his own down in the chair with a sigh, before unzipping the case and pulling the guitar out. For some reason, Naruto felt like he was seeing a side of Sasuke that a very few had seen. He knew Shikamaru turned Sasuke onto guitar, but for some reason he couldn't see Sasuke being around anyone while playing.

He seemed too private for anything like that. And Shikamaru seemed too damn lazy to actually play an instrument.

"Does Shikamaru play?" Naruto asked suddenly, still not having opened the case at his feet.

Sasuke was holding up the _Taylor – Big Baby_ acoustic. He tore his eyes away from something that he was looking at, and looked at Naruto with one eyebrow raised, and for a split second Naruto wanted to kick him in the shin for being able to do everything with ease.

Naruto couldn't do that eyebrow shit.

"No."

"How did he get you into it?"

Sasuke rested the guitar gently against the wall, so none of the tuning pegs hit before he shrugged, "He suggested it…a lot."

Naruto snorted, "That's it?"

"That's it."

The blond nodded, "Huh. I thought you were more difficult than that."

Sasuke glared, "Open the damn case."

Naruto lifted both eyebrows and mentally fumed for a second before looking down at the black, hard plastic guitar case that sat at his feet. He squatted down in front of it before flipping the latches and then laying it flat and opening the case with curious eyes.

Part of him was expecting the case to be empty and Sasuke to be leaning against the wall smirking but he was pleasantly surprised to find a guitar inside. The body of the guitar was a deep orange with a shined wood look about it. The neck was long and the frets glinted up at him, waiting. And at the very top read the very word…

"_Gibson_…"

"It's an SG standard." Sasuke replied automatically from, what Naruto guessed, where he was last standing.

Naruto had no idea what any of that guitar crap meant, so he was hoping Sasuke didn't expect him to. So 'SG' didn't make a world of a damn difference to him. All he knew was that it looked expensive.

"Take it back."

"Excuse me?" Sasuke said with a sour note to his voice.

"This thing looks expensive!" Naruto said, worry knitting his brow, "I can't just-"

"Your voice really does make my ears want to bleed." Sasuke interrupted.

"Bastard!" Naruto shouted, which with the force of the yelling added with the finger point, sent him toppling over on his backside.

For some reason, this made another question come to mind, "Why'd you take your guitar with you, teme? I get the strings and all, but can't you put them on yourself?"

Sasuke sighed, "The bridge needed repair, and I never got around to it."

Naruto remembered then what he had said about having stopped playing and wondered how long it had been, but decided not to ask. Prodding the beast when he had weapons in his closet wasn't the smartest thing. At least, now that he was _aware_ of the weapons.

The blond watched Sasuke exit the room and didn't even give Naruto a chance to ask where he was going as he entered his bedroom, not even bothering to shut the door. Naruto heard the obnoxious closet doors and wondered what on earth Sasuke was doing in there, and wondered if he should go and see. But then the thought of the weapons came back and he decided to sit and look at the new shiny guitar.

He took it carefully out of the case and noted easily how it felt a lot heavier than it looked, but then set it in his lap and frowned. The base took to finger smudges easily, and a new set was screaming right in his face. He tried to wipe it away with his shirt, but to no avail, the smudges still mocked him. He shrugged and simply admired the color and smiled. The bastard at least paid attention to something good.

Naruto jumped when a bag was set in front of him and found Sasuke soon following it with a smirk. The blond glared. The jackass _knew_ Naruto wouldn't want him to take it back. Prick.

"What's in the bag?"

"Everything _you'll_ need. Amp, tuner-"

"Aren't you going to help me at all?" Naruto asked with an undignified tone.

Sasuke snorted, "You can't learn if someone does all the work for you."

For some reason, Naruto felt as though Sasuke heard that line too many times to count. But really, was _now_ the perfect time reuse it?

What a bastard.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"Press harder." Sasuke's voice commanded, dull but annoyed.

"It hurts!" Naruto whined.

"You asked for it."

Naruto glared from where he was sitting across from Sasuke, hunched over his guitar and stuck his tongue out childishly at him, "I asked for a compromise. Not some torture session."

Sasuke pressed his index finger and thumb against his eyes, his arm resting on the wide body of his guitar, "It isn't torture."

"We've been going at it forever!"

"Seven minutes!"

"You made me tune the damn thing!" Naruto growled.

"I ended up doing it all, because the fucking thing sounded like a cat being thrown over a fence by its tail."

"You made me do all the amp stuff!" Naruto snapped.

"I made you plug it in!" Sasuke snapped back.

Naruto went to open his mouth to say something else before Sasuke set his guitar down on the floor in front of him and began to get up.

"Where are you going?"

"Work. I shouldn't have asked for the day off if you were going to waste my time."

Naruto rolled his eyes and blew at his bangs trying not to show his guilt. In the flurry of everything that had happened so far today he had forgotten that whole important thing to do, like going to work. He didn't even want to think about if he skipped classes. Naruto somewhat wished he had his schedule memorized already.

Sasuke had stood completely before Naruto tugged on his pant leg, which had Sasuke rearing his foot back as if ready to kick.

"Calm down! I was going to say I'll shut up!" Naruto said, having held up the guitar as a shield.

Sasuke sighed, glaring down at the blond before sitting back down, and letting out a sigh, "Use this."

Naruto looked up from trying to place his fingers to see Sasuke handing over the acoustic guitar, "The strings are thicker."

Upon closer inspection, which was trading guitars, Naruto noticed that Sasuke's strings were indeed thicker.

"Cheater." Naruto muttered.

"Pussy." Sasuke countered coolly.

Naruto began trying to put his fingers back into place, his head upside down as he hunched over the guitar to look at it, and then he tilted his head so he could make sure he could find the places where Sasuke pointed before.

The minute he saw, more than felt, Sasuke's hand touch his he was dumbfounded. This guy touching was hell on earth or something; that's the aura he gave off at least. But from the impatient sigh that seemed to just now be catching up with Naruto's brain, he understood why now. He placed the fingers where they were supposed to go, and then pressed against them.

"You have to press just harder than that." Sasuke said.

Naruto looked up and found Sasuke to be much closer than he was originally sitting across from him. It was then that he realized that he couldn't have reached it from where he was before, and absently he noticed Sasuke was smudging up his guitar.

When Naruto felt Sasuke's fingers move away, his fingers instantly relaxed with the strings, but then he pushed against them and strummed with the pick. Surprisingly, even though he winced, this time the note sounded fine to his ears.

"Now," Sasuke reached forward, "don't let your fingers leave those strings just yet." Naruto felt the slight tug on his hand, and he felt his fingers slide against the strings till there was a stop, and he watched still as Sasuke slightly adjusted his fingers.

"Again."

So Naruto did as he was told, pressing firmly against the strings and grinning when the sound wasn't as bad as he thought it was going to be. Sasuke continued to move his figures around the guitar, fixing them when it needed to be, but noticing that he was at least paying attention to where his fingers and hand were placed. Occasionally he would instruct him to stay in the same place and to strum at a certain rythum. Surprisingly enough, Naruto listened to the instructions Sasuke gave him each time, and didn't complain just like he said.

He was surprised that Naruto didn't like the electric guitar just because of the strings. It seemed enough like his personality; loud, obnoxious and shocking to a degree.  
Sasuke removed his hand and Naruto strummed the last note with a wide grin towards the neck where his fingers were, waiting for Sasuke's fingers to return and when they didn't he looked up, confused.

"What?"

"You just played a whole song." Sasuke commented with a smirk.

Naruto's eyes widened, "No way! What song? By who?"

Sasuke actually laughed, "The Beatles."

The blond spared a few blinks, "Do I _really_ sing that loud in the shower?"

"The woman three floors down said you could use lessons, but no, not that loud." Sasuke replied sarcastically.

Naruto laughed in return, and lightly punched at his arm, "Let's do that again!"

Sasuke smirked, and reached for his guitar back, "This time, with your own guitar."

The blond went to open his mouth to complain, but snapped it shut as Sasuke laid his guitar next to him gently and glared, "My finger bleeds, I'm kicking your ass."

"If I go bankrupt because I had to knock you unconscious for defensive purposes…I'll kill you."

Naruto beamed, "Fair enough."

Sasuke shook his head with a sigh and reached forward and began placing Naruto's fingers where they needed to be.

On the other side of the cracked open door, Shikamaru sighed. He supposed instead of ruining their good moment he should just go on back to Temari's.  
But it was so nice to see that someone could finally knock down that high wall that Sasuke took so long to build up.

* * *

Sasuke was expecting to be able to sleep in on the third day of his days off. Calling Tsunade on his scheduled day off and telling her he was finally taking a vacation was more a surprise to himself than anyone else. She was actually thrilled, saying something along the lines of '_About time, workaholic_.'" So, he had an entire week to stay at home and sleep, save for going to school.

Today, he had his class at night, so when he finally turned in last night he was looking forward to sleeping in.  
Until the next morning when something shook him roughly and he was greeted by a bright pair of blue eyes and a rather worried blond.

"DAMN YOU!" Sasuke yelled, "YOUR SIDE!"

Sasuke sat up straight, noticing at some point in time that night he had managed to get himself halfway out of his shirt as it was hanging around his neck and arm while Naruto sat on the edge of the bed and chuckled.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked, rubbing at his face tiredly and fixing his shirt.

Naruto chuckled as he took in Sasuke's disheveled appearance, noticing the raven actually had no choice but to relax and become normal when he slept. His hair was messy and frazzled, his clothes were crazy and in disarray, and he looked more confused and lost than tired.

If Naruto wasn't afraid of getting killed, he'd pinch his cheek and call him cute.

"When do you have to go to work? It's past noon already." Naruto worried on.

Sasuke turned and looked at the clock, a surprised look passing his features, "It's what time?"

"I _knew_ it! I should have woken you up sooner! You seemed like you were sleeping so peacefully I didn't have the heart. You were even snoring."

"I snore?" Sasuke asked, sounding slightly disgusted.

"Snoring is normal, teme."

"If you're talking about what you do…well…"

Naruto stuck out his tongue childishly, "Its normal."

"You sound like a possessed monster." Sasuke commented, rubbing tiredly at his eyes. "And I don't have work for a few more days. I cashed in my vacation."

Naruto blinked bright blue eyes more than necessary, "Really?"

"No."

"What?"

Sasuke sighed, covering up a laugh, "Yes, really. So now I have time this week to do the one thing you enjoy."

Naruto smiled cheekily at him, "Did you take the time off for me?"

"Keep dreaming, idiot." Sasuke said as he pushed on Naruto's face and shoved him off the bed on his butt.

Naruto looked up at the smirking face with a scowl before he smiled brightly, "When do you have class again?"

"Tonight at seven."

"Perfect. I was going to be nice, but since you're a bastard, looks like I can't do that anymore."

* * *

"So, how did you convince them to write this off?" Sasuke asked, looking up at the rack.

Naruto was tapping his chin, holding up two different helmets with a frown, then turning to Sasuke and holding them up on either side of his head.

"You look ugly in everything, don't you?"

Sasuke glared, "Just pick one, dobe. It isn't a fucking fashion contest."

"Ah, that's where you're wrong. If you show up looking like an extra from _Revenge of The Nerds_, it looks pretty bad."

Naruto passed off two helmets and Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief, relieved Naruto didn't think he was too good not to use his helmet. Because one fall and Sasuke's bank account was reading negative.

"Which bike?" Naruto mumbled. He smiled brightly and looked over at Sasuke, "Hell, if it's on the company, we can get the best of the best, right?"

"Again," Sasuke said irritably, "_How_ did you get them to write this off?"

Naruto hissed, "So, see…right, yeah. Well, I said that you would kiss me again so…"

Sasuke put both helmets on a random shelf and began to walk away, shaking his head as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Wait!" Naruto protested, grabbing the helmets and jogging to keep up, "Would you stop!"

"Do you have to log _everything_ we do?" Sasuke asked, his upper lip curling.

"Yeah, touchy-feely crap, yeah. What we did and what brought it on, but honestly, I was just going to say you kissed me, really. You don't have to. You'd think you'd fucking melt."

Sasuke scoffed, "No, just become dumber."

"Idiocy isn't a disease." Naruto said matter-of-factly.

"_You_ are the exception." Sasuke replied.

Naruto stamped his foot, "You act like you'll die if you kiss me again!"

Sasuke eyes went wider than Naruto really knew possible, so much so, that he thought it rather comical, "Would you _not_ shout things like that?"

"Go back to the bikes." Naruto demanded.

"No." Sasuke protested.

Naruto sucked in a great deep breath, "SASUKE UCHIHA LIKES THE DICK!"

The blond couldn't help but end up on the ground laughing, tears leaking, at the look on Sasuke's face.

Priceless will never cover it.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Naruto was pretty surprised that Sasuke was still in the parking lot of the store when he walked out with the sweet little clerk who offered to help him get the bikes to the car. He was even more surprised that when he actually approached the car Sasuke didn't drive off, wheels peeling. Naruto had an inkling that it was that debt, like it was yelling at him from the rear view mirror.

He didn't get out to help him get the bikes rammed awkwardly in the back seat and he didn't acknowledge the blond when he got in.  
Naruto guessed, by the rare (if not first time) red tint that still had traces lingering on Sasuke's face, and the fixed glare and locked jaw, he was guessing he _really_ pissed him off.

"Uh, I looked up on the computer-"

"I know where the indoor park is." Sasuke said bitterly.

"'Kay." Naruto said, shrinking into his seat with a hope he would melt.

"I should punch you in the face for shouting that." Sasuke muttered.

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Oh come on, it was a joke."

Sasuke lifted up his phone and passed it over with a frown, the blond taking it rather reluctantly and glancing over at the raven who seemed libel to explode.

"Go ahead."

Naruto flipped it open.  
_  
'17 New Messages'  
_  
"You should check this more often."

Sasuke snorted, "They started coming in twenty minutes ago."

Naruto gulped and clicked on the first message with the all knowing DOOM circling overhead.  
_  
From Karin:  
'Sakura just texted me from work. Said something about you being gay with some blond guy. The weird one?'  
_  
"Keep going."  
_  
From Juugo:  
'Is that why you were slacking on the project?'  
_  
"Keep going."  
_  
From Suigetsu:  
'Fruit.'  
_  
"Go on…"  
_  
From Itachi:  
'To my darling little brother. Congrats. I heard you took a new liking. Keep enjoying your gift…_

From Itachi:  
'I knew it, by the way. Just because of your hair.'  
  
Naruto stifled a laugh and refused to look over at Sasuke.

"Last one. The one I want you to read before you die."  
_  
From Kakashi:  
_  
Naruto's heart fell to the floor.  
_  
'Congrats on the announcement. You finally came out with it? Good, I sent a large box of condoms.'  
_  
Naruto turned and looked over at Sasuke and wondered possibly if some director ever asked him to star in a movie as the role of a murderer. Right now he looked the part.

"I was just joking…?" Naruto shrunk in his seat.

"I swear Naruto, I'm going to beat the shit out of you." Sasuke growled.

"Uh…uh…um. Wait! The stipulation for the bikes was a kiss! I have the bikes!" Naruto proclaimed, pointing to the back, "You have to kiss me!"

"Bullshit," Sasuke growled, "You said you would _lie_."

"Well, deal's off."

If it meant it would save him from a beating, even for a little, Naruto would risk it.

Naruto was more relieved than surprised that when he leaned across the middle console Sasuke didn't take his head and bash it against the window. He was more surprised than relived  
when Sasuke didn't pull back from the kiss, but did one better, and pressed back. Naruto's eyelids snapped wide open when he felt Sasuke's fingers slide into his hair, and winced when he tightened his hold to a harsh point. Sasuke pulled Naruto's face back and glared, barely letting up when blue eyes watered and didn't flinch when the blond swung a wild punch.

"Pull this kissing shit again, and I'll fucking kill you."

"I get it! Drama queen!" Naruto shouted shoving out of Sasuke's death hold and scurrying over to his side of the car.

Sasuke unconsciously licked at his lips while Naruto struggled with buckling his seat belt, yelling about possessed buckles, and lightly smiling.

For some reason, he hoped the idiot liked dancing with death.

* * *

Sasuke sat on the bike and held his breath as he watched Naruto do another back flip on the small bike to a round of applause by the onlookers and fellow riders. He couldn't help but spend a few moments showing off as the crowds got bigger. The blond skidded to a halt and smiled brightly as people gathered around, patting his back and chatting loudly about his impressive trick. People asked about other things he could do, which younger admirers asked if he could teach them.

Naruto smiled on, talking loudly and in an animated fashion as still sat on his bike. He talked about all the tricks he had been able to accomplish and all the others that he was still trying to defeat. He tapped helmets of younger riders and lightly told them tricks and tips before riding over to where Sasuke sat.

Naruto snorted as he skidded to a halt once more in front of Sasuke, "Wow, you're actually risking your hair style for me?"

"Keep dreaming."

"Now," Naruto started, grinning, "I'm going to teach you how to ride a bike. I forgot the training wheels, so please forgive me."

"I know how to ride a bike, dobe."

"Oh," Naruto said, chuckling a bit, "I had to teach myself."

"What are you implying?" Sasuke growled.

The blond wheeled backwards slightly, swallowing, "I don't know. I just…you made it seem like your parents were always busy."

"You really thought I didn't know how to ride a bike?"

"Yeah."

"You're such an idiot." Sasuke muttered.

"Shukamaru taught you, didn't he?" Naruto laughed, leaning forward on the handle bars.

The raven glared, "Teach me a fucking trick and let's go home.

* * *

The ride back was quiet to the point Naruto wanted to scream just to make Sasuke snap at him, anything just to ease the air of the awful tension. He was sure he knew what the point of tension was. Apparently where Naruto's parents were still an easy topic to discuss, Sasuke's parents were still a touchy subject.

"Sorry." Naruto finally said, "But if you don't want people talking about your parents, say so."

"Okay," Sasuke said, watching the road, "Don't talk period."

Naruto deflated, actually happy to hear Sasuke's sarcasm, "I mean it."

"Don't bring up my parents."

"There you go." Naruto said simply, "One day your frigid ass might melt."

"One day your loud ass will shut up."

"And one day the two of you will become the best of friends." Shikamaru said simply from the chair in the living room.

The two had found their way up the stairs, and in the apartment without realizing it really, bickering in their own little world.

"Yeah right," Naruto commented, taking off his coat, "I doubt that. How did you two become friends?"

Shikamaru chuckled, "I was in my sandbox, and little Sasuke came to take it over. I kicked him in the stomach, he made me eat sand, and here we are."

Sasuke glared when Naruto laughed, "That was your first memory."

"Right. My dad said in our first meeting when we were not even two, he pulled my hair and shoved his fist in my mouth." Shikamaru said chuckling when Naruto laughed loudly and Sasuke scowled.

"Damn teme, a frigid prick even at a tender age of two. How did you _actually_ become friends?"

Sasuke sighed, "For a genius, he's clumsy."

"I broke my ankle when we were playing in the woods. We were seven, and I cried like a baby."

"He's heavy." Sasuke growled.

"Yeah, that's right. The great Sasuke Uchiha carried me."

Naruto was laughing hard by this point, the two friends carrying on back and forth. Shikamaru smirking as he recalled the memory and Sasuke glaring as if hoping to make someone burst into flames.

"He was pretty calm at first, till he realized the bone came through the skin." Shikamaru said coolly, and laughed when Naruto shivered and made a loud disgusted noise, then shivered again.

"Yeah, you weren't there." Sasuke added under his breath as he stood next to the blond whose upper lip was curled.

"Yeah, you weren't." Shikamaru added, laughing when the two gave shocked faces because he could hear them, "You should have been. Especially to see the little shit lose all composure and freak out."

"Asshole." Sasuke commented.

"Hell," Naruto commented, "I would have thrown up and passed out, so good on you."

"But, I still made his violin recital." Shikamaru said matter-of-factly. "I might have been out of it and in a wheelchair, but I made it."

Naruto blinked, "You've heard him play?"

"Too many times."

"Is he good?"

"Too good."

"You know, I'm right here." Sasuke said dully.

"Can I hear you play bastard?" Naruto said excitedly, "Just once?"

"Can I hear you shut up?" Sasuke replied sarcastically, walking off towards his room, "Just once?"

Naruto stuck his tongue out childishly when the door shut and jumped when he felt a hand touch his shoulder, but followed Shikamaru into the kitchen regardless.

"He'll play for you. And despite what you think, you're already friends."

Naruto snorted and let out a laugh, "Yeah right. And what makes you think we're friends?"

Shikamaru shrugged frowning as he looked in the fridge, and the stopped when Naruto reached over head of him and opened the freezer and pulled out three meals to be cooked in the microwave for a early dinner.

"Because he's a very private person, Sasuke is." Shikamaru said, leaning against the fridge, "But letting you into his life just a little with something he enjoys, it's how he makes his friends."

"So even though you knew him because of your parents…"

"I was the first person to go see him play."

"Wait…what?"

"That is something you'll have to discuss with him." Shikamaru said, holding up his hands, surrendering.

"What about Chouji?"

"How they became friends?"

"All you guys? Shino, Kiba and Chouji. How did all of you guys become friends with Sasuke?"

"Kiba got him into martial arts, but which style, I'm not even sure. When they find time, they still run down and spar, and Kiba always gets hurt. Shino, hm, I think they met around the same time I introduced him to Kiba in high school. They became friends when Shino was reading a book by an author Sasuke really liked. Sasuke was the one who taught Chouji how to cook properly."

Naruto snorted, "So how do you think we're friends?"

"All the signs are there. Just think about it." Shikamaru said, grabbing the food from Naruto's hands and shuffling off.

The blond frowned, but grabbed the other two dishes from the microwave nonetheless and grabbed the forks from the counter and headed towards Sasuke's room, noticing the clock showed Sasuke still had time before he had to rush off before school.

He bumped the door open with his hip and was greeted with a scowling Sasuke standing in front of him, his arms crossed over his chest looking rather…

"You looked pissed." Naruto commented offhandedly.

"From now on, if you have questions about me, just ask _me_. I don't care who started it either." Sasuke added when Naruto opened his mouth. "Now do you want to hear it or not, dobe? I need to get ready for class."

Naruto looked around the angry young man and found an open case, the violin and bow sitting out on the bed waiting to be played.

It didn't take long for Naruto to realize exactly what Shikamaru meant.

* * *

Author's Note: I _swear_ they make the Gibson's that color.


	12. No Excuse Needed

Chapter Twelve: No Excuse Needed

Author's Note: The poll had a tie like mad…so I decided I would take the tying votes and update those in with the dates last updated. Only problem is I have _no_ clue when '_At Any Length_' will be posted as I am stuck…badly.  
I would have had this out a lot sooner, but my crap happy internet had many other plans, and I apologize. But here it is, better late than ever.

Warnings/Disclaimer: We've been over it, and I don't want to go over it again.

Chapter Twelve: No Excuse Needed

* * *

Day Ten: December 13th  
Status: Whoever said thirteen was an unlucky number lied to me.  
Sexual Experience: Nothing happened. Nothing will ever happen. Yeah, I said it! Get off my back!  
Personality: He's just…secretive. Like he'll explode if people get to know him. Kakashi, why did you have to give me the closet case? Why did it have to be the difficult one? Fuck you. You did this on purpose. Prick.

* * *

Sasuke woke the next day rather late, surprised by the fact he was actually able to sleep in past the snoring, the obnoxiously loud voice, and someone hovering over him telling him to 'rise and shine'.

It dawned on him that Naruto wasn't in the room. He sat up slowly and rubbed at his eye with his palm, glancing over at the empty space with his free eye. He dropped the hand from his face heavily, still not up to his usual grace in the drunkenness of sleep and glanced towards the closed door. Sasuke did make it a habit to keep the door closed, but Naruto had a new habit of leaving it open and welcoming, so the fact that it was indeed where Sasuke liked it was rather unsettling.

The raven sighed and his sleepy stupor was fading at the troubling thoughts that were soon plaguing him and he soon found himself out of bed. When he opened the door he was surprised to find Naruto sitting quietly on the couch with Kiba; the two of them where leaning forward with their elbows firmly digging into their thighs as they stared at the television. Shikamaru sat in his mandatory chair like a chaperoning parent making sure the kids didn't get too rambunctious.

Sasuke let his vision clear and he got a good look at the television, noticing once again Naruto had on the food network and this time he had sucked in more people with him.

"Why are you so interested in things you can't even manage, dobe?" Sasuke asked with a light grogginess to his voice.

For a moment Sasuke wondered why he even bothered considering it showed how obviously immersed Naruto was in the program before he caught his shoulders lifting and dropping in an obvious shrug. "Someone's gotta' eat the product. Why not me?"

Sasuke's eyes caught Kiba's head bob, "Amen to that."

It wasn't a secret that Kiba was as great of a cook as Naruto, and on some occasions, he was surprised he could even order a pizza right.

Really? Pepperoni and pickles?

Sasuke slowly took a seat on the couch, noting he could empty his bladder once the show ended in seven minutes and sat silently with the rest of the group and watched as the host finished her creation.

Naruto drooled, Kiba hummed and Sasuke was pretty sure Shikamaru snored. Ah, he had perfected sleeping with his eyes open. The host finished her three tier, chocolate fudge cake with triple chocolate icing and even took a moment to sample her own work, and Sasuke took a moment to wonder if Naruto and Kiba were going to try and jump through the screen.

Naruto looked to his right where Sasuke was seated and smiled, "What are we doing today teme? Jujitsu lessons?"

Sasuke looked over and raised a skeptical eyebrow, "Not fucking hardly."

"Hapkido."

"Never." He droned on.

"Tae Kwon Do?" Naruto asked more hopefully.

"_No_." Sasuke sighed, "You're the idiot that manages to get injured by the punching bag when it swings back."

Naruto frowned, "Am not!"

"I don't want to even test the theory."

Naruto crossed his arms childishly over his chest, "Then what are we going to do today?"

"I have class in forty-five minutes. I'll fill you in after that."

"Oh joy." Naruto said dully, "I can't wait to see what you have in store for me next. Bores-ville."

Sasuke turned to glare at the blond, "You think I'll choose something boring?"

The blond bobbed his head from side to side and gave a shrug, "I mean let's face it, your idea of fun is working and studying."

Sasuke's eyes shrunk to slits as he glared at the blond who merely shrugged again and went back to watching another program that had replaced the one that had gone off.

"Alright." Sasuke said with finality, "We'll see how boring I can be when I get out of school, dobe."

The raven stood up and marched toward the bathroom, remembering Naruto had managed to find time to do the laundry and all the clean towels where sloppily folded in the bathroom.  
Naruto blinked when the raven slammed the door behind him and then turned towards Shikamaru, who was no longer snoring, but had only one eye open with his head propped up in his waiting palm.

Shikamaru spared a lazy smile, "Told you it would work."

* * *

Sasuke opened the door to the apartment after his class, dew drops littering his jacket where the snow had recently fallen.

Shikamaru sighed from his chair, "Anymore snow and we'll be buried."

Sasuke looked down at his roommate, "Where is the idiot?"

"With the _other_ idiot." He replied back dully.

The raven sighed, "Where would that be?"

"They're in my room playing videogames on my television so I could watch my show." The two looked towards the opened doorway as soon as they heard a loud groan followed by a curse.

"I totally should have won!" Kiba yelled. The two looked on as they distinctly heard a thump and Sasuke's face contorted, knowing Kiba punched his arm.

"I won fair and square! Jealously is _very_ unbecoming!" Naruto yelled back, and Sasuke closed his eyes when he heard the next thump, as if the two were throwing punches in front of him.

He knew they were friendly, he wasn't a moron, but the fact that he knew they were going to leave bruises and he never knew when Kakashi was going to show up actually jabbed at his nerves.

"Dobe!" Sasuke called, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Stop costing me money and let's go!"

* * *

Naruto sat in the passenger seat in the car, jabbing at the stereo buttons as the radio barely had a chance to allow him or Sasuke to listen to his choices.

Sasuke punched at the power button which caused Naruto to let out a low and long whining noise, "_Bastard_."

"If you hadn't annoyed me, I would have left it on. What's the point if you can't pick something?"

Naruto shrugged, "There's joy in pressing buttons."

"Simpleton."

"Asshole." Naruto shot. "So where are we going anyway? Someone as stuck up as you can't possibly know a place where we can go and have fun."

Sasuke took his eyes off the interstate to glare, "We'll see."

"I'm more concerned with how long I'll be in the car with you." Naruto continued, eyeing the radio, "The fact that we're probably going to some geeky chess club meeting has already sunk in."

Sasuke couldn't help the roll of his eyes, "What really makes you think we're going somewhere so boring?"

Naruto ignored the interstate signs as Sasuke took the off ramp, starting to draw on his fogged passenger window, "You seem the stuck up type. Like you sat down just to make sure the stick won't come out of your ass."

Sasuke gripped the steering wheel harder to make sure he wouldn't let go and just slip and punch Naruto across his face.

Sasuke ignored the humming that came from Naruto as they continued the drive, some annoying tune that he couldn't put to any song that he was familiar with. The raven flicked on his turn signal and made the next left into a wide open area with a large sign that suddenly caught Naruto's attention and stopped all noise.

"_Snow Shoe_? What's that?"

Sasuke kept his eyes on the road, "It's a ski resort, but we're just staying for the day and it was the closest thing to any type of boarding we can do right now."

Naruto couldn't help when his jaw had gone slack, "Are you actually doing something nice?"

"No."

"Trying to prove you aren't a bastard?"

"No."

Naruto chuckled, "Just not boring?"

"Hn."

Naruto couldn't help but laugh as they parked the car, and watched as Sasuke undid his seat belt and turned around to take a blanket off of the back seat that had been turned down.

The blond blinked at two snowboards sitting patiently, next to them the snow boots, goggles and hats.

"You don't know my size." Naruto stated as he turned around awkwardly trying to get a look at the _Burton_ board.

Sasuke shrugged, "Kakashi does."

The blond turned and looked at the raven who was climbing out of the driver's side and sighed, but shouted after him, "I should call you boring more often!"

-0-0-

The snow flared high in the air when Naruto went diving unexpectedly into the mound of snow just to the side of the bottom of the hill. Sasuke held back the wince that threatened to surface as he watched Naruto fly through the air into the six foot tall mound of snow, and let out a small sigh when the blond came backing out laughing.

"Sasuke!" He yelled, waving his arms as if the raven couldn't see him from twenty feet away, "You have to try that!"

"The sad attempt at the trick or the face plant?" Sasuke called back.

"Oh screw you!" Naruto called back, his arm dropping from the air, his free hand scooping up snow and throwing the powder through the air to have it sprinkle down on Sasuke.

The raven looked up from unbuckling his snow boots from the bearings, one foot attached to the snowboard and the other buried in the snow.

"The hell are you doing dobe?" Sasuke yelled, glaring at the blond who was kneeling in the snow, his boots still attached to his own board and hadn't taken the moment to hop up yet.

"THIS!" Naruto scooped his hands down into the snow and brought them together, instantly forming a sloppy snowball and launching it in the general direction of Sasuke.

The white mass grazed Sasuke's snow cap covered head as he ducked, and upon coming up, his face wore the worse glare it had ever been graced with.

Naruto gulped, tugging on the bright orange snow cap by the hanging treads that were swinging by his face and dove behind the snow bank that he had just recently face dove into.

Naruto laughed loudly as he began snapping back the buckles on the bearings of the snowboard, freeing his feet, "Bring it on teme!"

"No dobe. Grow up." Sasuke snapped back, swooping down to finish unhooking the other foot.

And before he could even _think_ about undoing the last buckle, it hit him. Not with a lot of force, and not with a lot of snow, but damn it all it hit him. And right on top of his bowed head no less.

Sasuke ripped off the knitted cap that was comfortably keeping his head warm and dry and was now wet, cold and had chunks of snow matted to it.

"Damn you, Naruto!" Sasuke cursed, throwing the dark cap down and aside with his snow board, "Knock this shit off!"

Sasuke bent down and undid the last buckle and successfully yanked his boot out just as the bigger snowball smacked the top of his uncovered head with a _pop_!

Sasuke couldn't help but pause after he stood up straight, suddenly becoming rigid. He glared towards the snow mound that had become something like Naruto's snow barrier and he growled, putting his hand to his hair and raking the snow out in one quick sweep. He flicked his hand and dismissed the water droplets that clung to his skin with a scowl and turned a glare towards the snow mound in which Naruto was hiding behind.

It was on.

Sasuke bent down and dug his snow covered gloves into the white powered cold, packing in the snow together firmly and launching perfectly to land just on the other side of the mound of snow. Like clock work, the sound came like a rip through the air.

"DAMN!"

Sasuke ducked lightly when Naruto popped up, clumps of snow riddling his head and clinging to his hair, thinking he had another snowball in hand ready to launch.

"You're going down teme!"

"Bring it on dobe!"

It was one of the moments in time that Sasuke supposed that he could lie and say never happened; dropping all Uchiha graces, bastard natures and stuck-up demeanors and acted like he never did.

He acted like a rambunctious kid.

Sasuke's snow fort was just to the left of where he was standing, and using his snowboard as a shield to block the next tossed snowball to his head, he took a few quick steps to a snow mound just inside the trees twenty-five feet away from Naruto.

"Cheater! Don't use your board!" The blond screamed, launching another sloppily made snowball and letting it soar five feet over Sasuke's head and into a tree.

Sasuke sat in the snow smirking and shaking his head, his hat abandoned in the snow a few feet away and his gloved hands compacting snow into perfect and precise round shapes, wondering if he was going to bruise the blond if he threw them too hard.

"Come on Sasuke, don't chicken out on me now!" Naruto called tauntingly, standing up and waving his hands.

"Impatient dobe?" Sasuke called loudly back.

"Are you making balls?" Naruto yelled.

Sasuke couldn't help but smack at his forehead at the comment, and turned to look and see a few of the snowboarders who had stopped at the bottom of the hill turned at the loud comment.

He heard Naruto laugh loudly, "How awkward is that, you throwing you balls at my-_AH_!"

Naruto ducked quickly when Sasuke shot up, snowball in hand and threw as hard as he possibly could only to have it go soaring over the snow bank Naruto was hiding behind and crash land in the snow.

The blond quickly popped up and launched a counter attack with two strikes, Sasuke dodging each snowball with easy grace and a cocky smirk. Sasuke bent down and grabbed more of his premade snowballs and launched them, Naruto dancing behind the snow barrier across from him and trying to dodge. The blond jumped and laughed loudly when one hit him in the back and Sasuke's smirk unconsciously unraveled into a smile.

Sasuke dropped down again and began to sloppily make another snowball having accidentally stomped his other premade ones while dodging the ones Naruto threw. But then he heard it.

He tweaked his head to the side and stopped moving his noisy gloves to get a better listen, but he heard it right. He could hear the thumping of boots stomping down as they ran across the snow, and no doubt, coming in his direction.

Sasuke turned around and popped his head up over the snow barrier, just enough so his eyes could sneak a peak, and just enough to catch Naruto in a sloppy dead sprint through the snow two feet away from him. Sasuke tried to back away, and promptly fell on his backside and began scooting away as he dug his heels into the snow as he tried to push backwards.  
Naruto went to hurtle the barrier with a wicked grin, snowball in hand, and a goal in mind to win the snowball fight.

That is until he tripped.

Naruto fell with a loud grunt in the deep snow next to Sasuke, rolling so his face was no longer in the snow. The blond laughed, wiping away the white flakes that clustered against his face. Naruto opened his eyes only to be faced with Sasuke, his gloved hand raised back behind his head, and the biggest snowball he'd ever seen in place ready to strike.

"Wait!" Naruto barked when Sasuke flinched to plow it in his face, and surprisingly enough, he held back.

"I mean, what satisfaction would you get shoving that in my face?" Naruto started, and shook his head, "Right, I know, a lot. Uhhh…no sex jokes for a week?" Sasuke's smirk grew and the blond knew, it still didn't work.

"This is payback _still_ for the yelling in the store, huh?" Naruto asked meekly, his hand still scrambling next to him to get his own snowball ready.

"No, but I like the excuse." Sasuke said, and jammed the snowball on Naruto's face, just as Naruto planted one on his.

Naruto started laughing under the snow that covered his face, muffling his laughter that was pouring from his mouth. His gloved hands brushed away at the snow that clung to his frosty rosy face, a few flakes still clinging to his eyelashes and tumbling in his mouth as he laughed.

The blond blinked painfully through the last few flakes of snow to realize Sasuke still hadn't made a move to remove the snow from his face, and began to laugh even harder.

Naruto used a bright orange gloved finger to wipe away the snow that covered dark eyes that blinked wildly, and gave one good swipe to reveal an actual smile that was gracing Sasuke's mouth.

"Wow…" Naruto chuckled, "I didn't think the muscles on the other side of your mouth worked."

Sasuke reached his gloved hand up and wiped away the white powder that still covered his face, trying to cover his chuckle with a grunt, but couldn't fool the blond.

"Who knew such a bastard could enjoy himself." Naruto managed to get out through laughter, never having seen color on Sasuke's face. But now the pale face was tinted with red from the cold biting at his skin, leaving him unwillingly flushed.

Sasuke sighed as he brushed the last bit of snow from his face, looking at the blond, "Dobe, you still have snow on you face."

Naruto blinked, "Where?"

"You can't feel it?"

He laughed, "Nope, my face has gone pretty numb."

The raven rolled his coal eyes, the blond following along as they seemed to be highlighted under his dewdrop eyelashes, and flinched when Sasuke's hand was suddenly at his face.

"I'm not going to hurt you dobe," Sasuke said, wiping away the snow with a shake of his head. Some of the strands to his long dark raven bangs clung to his face, weaving around in random patterns but refusing to move. Naruto figured his bangs were glued to his forehead, though he couldn't feel it, and knew his hair was clinging to the back of his neck as they stuck out from underneath the knitted hat.

Naruto blinked, trying to blink away his reverie to find Sasuke closer than he swore he was, only an inch or two away from his face and his hand slowing.

"So who won?" Naruto ask quietly, feeling as if he were to speak loudly Sasuke would notice his mistake of being close.

"I did." The raven said in a sure tone with a smirk.

Naruto felt the corners of his mouth turn upward, "What makes you so sure?"

Sasuke smirked lightly, the tip of his nose touching Naruto's, "Because bastards always win."

And before Naruto could even get the laugh out, Sasuke's lips were on his.

* * *

Author's Notes: Ahh, boo. Damn me. Anyway, I want to get a move on with the romance and progression. And as we all know, I love writing romance.  
I know I said I'd have this out tomorrow, but I lied. Surprise.


	13. In the Name of the Contract

Chapter Thirteen: In the Name of the Contract

Author's Notes: I need to instantly start off with an apology. I've been struggling with a lot of things these past couple of months. That usually carries over in my writing, and I was just struggling. Now that I have half of chapter fourteen written and plotted out, I figured I should post this before you all kill me. I would totally understand too. XD

Dedication: To _Spicy Tangerine_ since you said this was your new fav. And that PM was _amazing_. Sorry for the wait dear.

Warning/Disclaimer: All done, all said, all ass backwards.

Chapter Thirteen: In the Name of the Contract

Day Eleven – December 14th:

Not comment will be left for today.  
-Naruto

* * *

Sasuke's eyes snapped open, his eyes still fuzzy from waking up in the usual tired daze. There were of course a few things different. The easiest to notice was the other side of the bed hadn't even been touched the previous night. The second was that it was unnaturally quiet in his tiny little apartment. The third, of course, was his roommate.  
Shikamaru had opened the door, finding Sasuke sitting up in bed with his disheveled hair assaulting his face, and his pajama pants trying to climb up his legs.

"I was wondering when you were going to get up." Shikamaru sighed, glancing over his shoulder. "I wanted to ask you what's gotten into Naruto."

Sasuke instantly snapped his head up, his eyes in slits. "What do you mean by that?"

Shikamaru cocked his head to the side. "Why are you so defensive?"

"I'm not defensive."

Shikamaru sighed, rubbing at his left temple. "So troublesome."

Sasuke watched as his friend stepped inside and silently shut the door behind himself, his face black and somewhat bored.

"Last time I took the test, it came back genius. I hate to disappoint you so, but I'm afraid even a blind man can tell something happened."

Sasuke planted his head in his waiting hands. "Kiba's been bugging you?"

"Very much so. Something about his buddy being down and out and going to wipe out the Uchiha race himself or something. I fell asleep mid speech honestly."

Silence fell over them in the sunlit room. The fragments of dust fluttered through the air in the streams of light that were flooding the room through the blinds. The clock on the far wall loudly ticked as the seconds passed by. Sasuke knew with his stubborn personality, he could sit there for days and ignore the question at hand. It was his personal business and his friends should know by now that it wasn't that easy to dislodge personal information concerning his life.

Then again, it wasn't exactly the hardest thing in the world to tell something serious happened.

"I hate talking…" Shikamaru muttered, "But you need to realize something, Uchiha."

Sasuke looked up, his eyes trying to decide if he should glare or not somewhat giving his right eye a bit of a twitch.

"I _know_ something happened between you and Naruto. I _know_ it wasn't something small considering it'd take a bit more than a rumble of thunder to get your non-emotional ass in a bit of a tiff. You're so flustered you can't even help but let it show through, and some crazy asshole might find that cute but I find it annoying."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, opened his mouth intent on saying something but was shut right up instantly.

"I get you don't want anyone to know because you're all dark and mysterious or whatever you want to call it. Maybe you don't want people to know because you aren't entirely sure yourself. There are just a lot of factors that you need to acknowledge. The time frame you have with Naruto, the stipulations in which you can't ignore, and what you're really feeling. Personally I hate giving out advice, but if I didn't say anything you wouldn't do shit, and frankly it would be a damn waste."

Sasuke felt his eyebrows lift. "What do you mean by that?"

"If you can't see it now, in do time it will smack you rightly across the face. Frankly Sasuke, I better not be here doing this again anytime soon."

Sasuke watched as his friend calmly opened the door and stepped into the living room grumbling about "stupid smart people" and rubbing at his forehead.

It only left Sasuke to sit there, alone in his brightly lit room, to really sort out his thoughts.

* * *

It really had to be the end of the world if Naruto was actually cleaning. Not staring at things hoping his nonexistent mind powers would work. He wasn't doing a wanna-be good job like taking a wet paper towel and streaking everything to hell. He had yellow rubber gloves on that went up half the length of his arms and were just a size too big for him. He had an assortment of cleaners that he found under the sink, and after thinking about making Sasuke a cocktail, he got to cleaning. The kitchen was currently spotless. Since he had trouble sleeping because of some assface, he decided to make up for lost time.

He was working on the living room, which he was dusting, when he heard the door to Sasuke's room open and close.  
He didn't mean to flinch or pretend to be more into his work than...well, ever; but it was hard to look at the Uchiha without thinking about what in the hell happened.  
He couldn't lose this job, not at all. He needed it, and despite how shitty of a gig it was, he had to do what he planned in the first place.

Sasuke couldn't fall in love for two reasons. One, bastards have no emotions, and Sasuke taught him this. So it was a bit on the impossible side. The other reason was he'd have to give Naruto up. Not to mention pay the large and hefty fee for "ruining" one of their workers.

If Naruto fell in love, it was called a failure by the company. He wouldn't be suited and he would be fired.

There were too many things that could possibly all go wrong, and not enough at all to go right.

He didn't see it as such a good idea as to fall in love and then be on the run. It wasn't exactly adventurous and it wasn't exactly glorifying.

"Naruto."

He tried to hold back the grimace, but he was betting anything it was easily seen.

"Stop cleaning and get ready, we're going out." Sasuke said in his back-to-normal, I-hate-everything tone. "Where?" Curiosity killed cats, but he liked foxes more anyway. That had to count as immunity.

There was a pause where Sasuke was too busy to pay Naruto attention as he went through his phone, but finally looked up and at the blond who was standing there with _Swiffer Duster_ in hand.

"To eat. I don't feel like dancing with death today in your attempt to humor us all and cook."

Naruto pulled a face. It was half disgusted and have annoyed. He looked like he had sucked on a lemon in all honesty, but as the bathroom door slammed shut in his face, he really didn't care.  
For the life of him he couldn't figure out which side of Sasuke he wanted around.

The stingy prince, or the crabby bastard.

If it meant he would lose all that was left of his sanity, he was going to find the middle ground.

* * *

As the two left the apartment, Naruto would honestly admit he was excited that they were walking instead of driving the car. Walking meant it was close to the apartment. As well as if he felt the need to bail, he wouldn't be rolling out of a car and down the road.

The blond figured that at some point, he needed to address what happened. Both of them did.

It was different than the one they forced out in the tiny little kitchen to keep Kakashi happy, that was true. Or his last ditch effort not to be killed by Sasuke.

He didn't expect to be kissed so suddenly. He never thought Sasuke would do something like that on a whim, and then act like it never happened.

The man just simply pulled away, got up, and told him it was time to go home. The ride home was eerily quiet, and Naruto wasn't going to take a gamble and put on the radio. Though now that he looked back on it, he probably could have. Sasuke seemed to be in the deepest of thoughts as they drove back to the house. Like he was trying to sit there and figure out one giant, impossible puzzle.

It was the same look he had now. It was like he was in a somewhat bit of a trance but his face was, as perusal, calm and impassive. But Naruto noticed Sasuke eyes gave him away a lot of times.

"What's on the agenda for today?" The blond asked in an excited sort of way, trying not to sound any different than usual.

"We both have class later." The raven reminded.

"Well, yeah, but that only takes up three hours including commute. You know?"

"In this place." Sasuke said suddenly, giving Naruto's shoulder a little push in the right direction.

The blond tripped a little over his feet with the quick change of course, but quickly recovered and pushed open the door. It was a small little place, something that looked like it went from a corner mom and pop joint to a chain restaurant. The man at the front counter righted himself, before being hunched over on the counter reading a magazine.

"Hello, table for two?" He asked, going for the menu's.

"No, pick up." Sasuke corrected, instantly confusing Naruto.

The blond looked to the other practically with a question floating over his head. "We aren't eating here?"

He shook his head, "No, I told Shikamaru if he left me alone till class I'd get him food." Sasuke replied simply, telling the man at the front counter the name for pickup.

"You're serious?" Naruto asked, referring to the bribe.

Sasuke didn't want to let Naruto in on his conversation with Shikamaru before they left. How his 'friend' had promised he would step in if he had to, so Sasuke used his laziness gene (his weakness) against him.

"So we're just going back to the apartment? That's it?"

Naruto couldn't get Sasuke to look at him for the sake of his life. Despite how much his eyes searched, the other was looking away. Maybe Sasuke was feeling awkward or confused or angry, either way Naruto felt he could give him the benefit of the doubt and at least look at him.

They stood there in their own silence, listening to the bustle of the place around them. Babies cried, adults laughed, kids made a mess and even a waiter broke a glass. It was definitely better than sitting at the quiet little apartment thinking about what in the hell had happened.

The man came back to the counter, a bag stacked with containers leaving Sasuke to mutter under his breath to Naruto. "Plus you like getting out of the house, right?"

The blond snapped his mouth shut instantly. If Sasuke was doing something nice for him, he would make sure he didn't mess it all up. Even if he couldn't figure out why he was doing it.

* * *

The walk home was quiet. The only thing they really discussed was going to class. After Naruto finished saying how school wasn't as bad as he expected, and how he was really ready to actually get into it once he went home; they remained silent.

Shikamaru met them at the door, holding out his hand to receive his food. Sasuke dug it out, moving his own food and Naruto's out of the way.

"Where you going?" He asked irritably, handing over the plastic container.

"Temari's." He replied simply. "She asked me to come over."

Sasuke snorted, "Is she that bored?"

"No, she got a new mini-skirt."

The blond laughed as he was busy trying to sneak his food out of the bag Sasuke was holding, the raven moving the bag randomly to stop him.

"Well, she seems to be full of spunk."

The raven was glaring at Shikamaru with the deepest look of hate, listening to the man whisper about _time alone_ and such. The lazy man walked out the door with a sigh, as if it strained him to walk to the garage to get to his car and drive away.

The blond was rummaging through the fridge getting drinks and grabbing silverware out of the appropriate drawer while Sasuke glared down the now closed door.  
He understood that Shikamaru was right. Would he ever admit it? Never. He knew all the things he needed to take a step back and look at, which he did. He knew he needed to learn his priorities. He now had them in order. He needed to know if he wanted something more or something far less. He was sure what he wanted.

The only tiny, small, little bit of a problem was putting that on the floor. To open up and talk to Naruto. To explain his actions yesterday, to explain what his intentions were, to actually talk like a normal person.

He didn't want to do any of that.

A fork's points met his cheek gently, snapping him out of his sudden daze and thought filled mind only to find Naruto grinning beside him. The blond gave Sasuke's cheek one last poke before handing the utensil over and taking his own container of food.

The raven shook his head, turning away from the door and following suit to the couch. Naruto grabbed the remote before Sasuke even had the chance to think about turning on the television.  
He settled it on some sports program. Another re-run of the X-Games. He watched as Naruto instantly scooted to the edge of his seat, his eyes growing wider by the second, and he absently ate at his food occasionally missing his mouth with his fork.

"When this is done, are you really going to go back to school? Or are you going to get back to that?"

The blond ripped his eyes away just as the man on screen flipped his bike forward to a round of loud cheers.

"What?"

Sasuke sighed, "I asked if..."

Naruto held up his fork to stop Sasuke's sentence rather than his hand. "I heard you. I was just confused about the sudden question. It's unlike you...more like me."

"Don't say something so rude." The raven smirked, his fork simply moving his food around.

"Ass." Naruto laughed. "I don't know if I'll be able to do it. I didn't have great sponsor's in the first place. I wasn't amazing to start out with. It was awesome being dubbed pro, but you don't get the money you think you will. They glamourize it all. Being a pro extreme sports athlete won't get me far for long. I love it, I really do, but I think it's time to be practical. Going to college can give me a career to last forever. You made me see that, and in case I haven't said it already, thank you."

The raven snorted, stabbing at a piece of his food and simply twirling it. "For forcing you to go to school and get out of my face?"

"Yeah. Thanks for being so stuck up."

Sasuke snorted again, "What about this? This job?"

Naruto laughed, "I already told you. This is it. My parents debts will be paid off and...I can go to college."

"Why the hesitation?"

The blond laughed, "You caught that?"

"How could I not? You must really think I'm dumb."

Naruto laughed harder, rolling his eyes. "No, it pisses me off you're so smart. I guess, maybe a little bit, I hope that when this job is all said and done, I can live with my parents again."

Sasuke didn't want to sound rude and heartless, but there was really no other way to ask it. "Didn't your mom kick you out because...you know?"

"Because I'm gay? It won't kill you to say it. But yes, she did. I'm just hoping after I do all this, they'll both accept me again."

Sasuke didn't put in his two cents. He had a feeling that no matter what type of favor someone can do, it didn't replace previous judgment and feelings. Despite how he wanted Naruto to go live with his parents and enjoy life, he didn't want it to be under false ideals. He didn't want the idiot to be living there with his mother shoving out her displeasure.

They sat silent between themselves for awhile after that. Naruto scarfed down his food while Sasuke simply played with his. He didn't feel like eating, so the blond took care of that for him, and ate all his food.

"Naruto."

The blond looked away from the television, his eyebrows raised in question. "What?"

"About yesterday..." Sasuke started awkwardly, feeling his face scrunch up.

The blond shrugged. "Not a big deal, right? You are allowed to you know, don't kill yourself over it."

"You aren't going to take it as something more?" Sasuke asked in his usual dead tone.

"Hm? No! Come on, that would be silly. Besides, if you've fallen for me, then this is it. I get fired and everything. I mean, I understand you can be a jerk and all, but after I've explained everything to you...I guess I can't see you doing that. I mean, don't get me wrong, feelings are feelings. You seemed closed off enough. Besides, you aren't even gay." He laughed. "I just don't see you doing it with feeling, I guess. I mean, all the money you'd be screwed out of."

"Exactly." Sasuke agreed, his voice flatter.

"I mean, you flinch when I trip." Naruto laughed.

"Of course." He droned on.

"So let's not freak out about it, hm? Everyone has moments. Besides, I can't blame you for wanting to kiss my sexy face." Naruto laughed, shoving Sasuke's shoulder.

"Yeah, it's all in the contract, right?"

"Yup!" Naruto chirped.

"Then kiss me."

There was a pause that turned Naruto into stone. He was staring at Sasuke's face, looking for any sign that this was a joke. His eyes raked his face, but it was the same. It was a stone wall of indifference.

"You're kidding..."

"No."

Naruto felt himself shake it off like it was a dream, but he was smack dab in an awkward reality. "What? You're like, disgusted by the thought me. You can't be telling me all this single life and lonely crap is getting to _you_."

"Sure." He said, his voice still void of emotion.

"What if..."

"Just do it Naruto."

The blond shut his eyes briefly, hoping he'd open them and realize he was just having some funny dream after he fell asleep because he ate too much. When he opened them, he sighed. It wasn't a bluff, a fluke, a dream or anything else. Without another second of hesitation, he got on his knees, the cushion of the couch supporting him and he crawled over to where Sasuke was sitting. His palms sank into the cushion with each slow and crawling movement, his knees dipping into the softness.

He stopped when his hands reached Sasuke's knees. He couldn't recall when he had turned on the couch and crossed his legs.

He pushed himself up, bringing his legs up along with him, and crawling on to Sasuke's lap. He thought maybe this action would snap him out of it. One leg on either side of his waist, completely straddling him. He could feel his ass sitting perfectly against Sasuke's crotch. His thighs clamped around his waist, he put his hands on Sasuke's chest and let them melt their way down over his shirt.

He was convinced that at any moment, Sasuke would snap back into his normal self and shove him off. He felt a hand curl around the front of his shirt and a fist tug him forward slightly. Another hand rested calmly on his thigh.

"It's in the contract." He reminded Naruto.

He felt himself being tugged forward, he felt his head tilt down, and he squeezed his eyes shut. Sasuke's lips were just as soft as he could remember, smooth like he'd never felt before. He felt his heart suddenly thud in his chest when those lips moved against his own. They felt like they were melting against his, dying to merge together.

Maybe Sasuke's food was bad, he tried to reason. Maybe he was drugged. Maybe he was too tired. Maybe...maybe...maybe.

He felt the lips retreat and instinctively he licked at his own. It tasted like something sweet and he felt himself frown at that. Sasuke hated sweets. It reminded him of something. Honey or a taffy. Sasuke would never touch those things.

Naruto opened his eyes when he felt the hand leave his shirt, and then felt chilled fingers wrap around his chin.

He didn't realize he was still face to face with Sasuke and he was met with dark pools staring at him with indifference. He never could fully appreciate his eyes until now. Up close he could honestly say they were beautiful and terrifying at the same time.

"Open your mouth this time."

He didn't have time to react really, or possibly even prepare himself. He felt their lips melt together again, feeling a small jolt race up his back. It had never felt so wonderful before, just sharing a simple kiss with someone. He was knocked out of that thought when he felt Sasuke's tongue barely graze his bottom lip as a reminder, making it tingle instantly. Teeth suddenly nipped at the lip, gently enough to make another jolt race up his back and enough to make him open his mouth.

He didn't realize how eager he suddenly seemed. He barely registered his hands sailing up Sasuke's chest, around his neck and felt his fingers dig deeply to grab a hold his hair.  
Their tongues met in a slow, languid dance. It felt erotic to him how slowly and teasingly their tongues twirled. He barely arched his back when he felt Sasuke's bare finger tips graze the skin of his lower back. He hadn't even noticed his hands sliding under his shirt. It was amazing how hot they suddenly were, like individual torches.

He noticed he was suddenly getting lost in the haze of lust. Barely considering anything but the small pleasures he felt. Such simple touches and kisses were leaving him lost. He felt himself gasp for air when Sasuke's mouth pulled away, and bit back another when he felt the silk of his lips began to tease at his neck.

He clamped his teeth together and tilted back his head, giving Sasuke's more space to work him. He shivered when he felt the now familiar tongue trace a fiery trail up to his jaw. A shiver passed over him when he relished in the gentle nips that trailed back down.

"Sasuke..." He tried calling, but for what reason, he already forgot.

He barely comprehended the moan that escaped his own lips when he felt the bite on his lower neck that turned into gentle and stimulating suction.

"_Ahhh_..." He immediately bit down on his lip when he realized the noise came from himself, losing himself in the feeling that Sasuke was bringing with such simple touches.

A second later, it was all gone. Sasuke's lips, his hands, his heat.

He felt himself slide off of Sasuke with a push, and as he shook his head to try to regain some control, he watched the front door slam shut.

* * *

Author's Notes: I feel as though...I've been reading too much smut lately, and now it's reflecting in what I write. Now you guys are going to pester for more...damn.


	14. Unexpected Interruptions

Chapter Fourteen: Unexpected Interruptions

Author's Notes: -head desk- I'm just going get on with the chapter. The author's note at the end is very important.

Warnings/Disclaimer: Been done.

Dedication: For Akiru. This would still be incomplete otherwise.

Chapter Fourteen: Unexpected Interruptions

Journal Entry:

Day Eleven/Day Twelve: December 14th/15th  
Status: You know, status-y  
Personality: It's there.  
Excitement Level: High Enough.  
Chemistry Level: Interesting.  
Sexual Experience: Enough to get me fired up, not enough to get me money.

* * *

Naruto shuffled into class ten minutes late. The professor didn't say anything but gave him a concerned look. The blond wasn't gloom and doom like his aura was now. His professor knew right off that bat that he was a little ball of high, positive energy.

He took his seat and flipped open his notebook, diligently coping the notes that were already on the dry-erase board. His mind drifted in and out of the class. Occasionally he'd registered what his teacher was lecturing about, and the rest of the time he replayed the situation with Sasuke over in his head.

What happened was sudden and unexpected. It was full of bottled up passion. It felt completely right, like they were made for each other. Just a kiss had left Naruto's head spinning before the rug was pulled out underneath his feet. Sasuke probably felt nothing. It was probably something to fill the proverbial void and nothing more. Probably a little experiment gone wrong.

That's what touched a nerve with Naruto.

He never imagined with starting this job that something so simple could get under his skin. He thought it would be easy to do intimate things with a stranger. No connections or feelings. No baggage. He suddenly didn't understand it all. How he could feel certain things stirring in his chest and Sasuke was shrugging everything off.

Naruto wanted to know how, when and why these things started eating away at him. _He_ was supposed to not feel anything. _He_ was supposed to not be bothered by this. _He_ wasn't supposed to give a damn about it.

Damn if it wasn't happening.

* * *

It was the first time in his life that he felt like a complete and all around idiot.

Now, of course, he was doing something even dumber. Apparently his genius had run away and swore to never come back again. He instantly blamed Naruto.

"I've never seen you so perturbed." The man sighed, sipping his coffee. "I have to say I'm impressed."

Sasuke's eyes flicked up in a glare, his head resting in the palm of his hand, and his deranged brother stood across from him.

Sasuke dropped his head and held it in between both his hands and stared down at the marble top.

"Not that I don't enjoy these visits with all my heart." Itachi said with a dead tone, inspecting his nails. "But why on earth are you here?"

Sasuke let his glare drop as he just barely rolled his eyes and looked away. He hadn't really thought over the explanation he was going to give to his brother.

"Problems with the mail?" Itachi asked sarcastically.

His very perceptive, sarcastic brother, he might add.

He picked his head up and laced his fingers, turning his head away. His face was void, blank and dead. Sasuke had always been good at hiding his emotions, he was hard to figure out. Always close to impossible. It was easy for Itachi to figure him out though, to read him, only because he was the same way, if not worse.

"It's obvious you're troubled. You haven't made one 'sadistic brother' comment since you got here. I'm worried."

Sasuke shot his brother with a dirty look. His tone was blank, as was his face. He wasn't stupid, he knew he didn't give a damn.

"Don't play me." Sasuke growled, sliding his coffee away from himself. The smell was starting to make his nauseous. Just thinking about the past few hours made his stomach churn.

"You look pale." Itachi droned, "But you know, more so than usual."

"Would you stop beating around the bush, you sadistic fuck." Sasuke spat.

The one side of Itachi's mouth twitched in the slightest, enough to be considered a smirk at least, and then it was gone once again.

"You sure you want a lecture? An Uchiha lecture no less."

"Whatever it takes. I just need someone who can talk some sense. Even though your sensibility is warped, I just need it."

Itachi's eyebrows raised in the slightest, obviously a bit shocked. "Haven't you heard your words of wisdom form our young friend, Shikamaru?"

"Hence why I'm now here."  
Itachi gave a small, barely recognizable nod. "I suppose I should stop then."

"What? You being, well, you? I daresay it would be less fun." Sasuke snorted.

Itachi barely shook his head, his eyes closed. "Far worse that I thought then. Let me make you your tea."

Sasuke looked over at him with a furrowed brow, "Your green tea? The bitter crap."

Itachi turned, shooting his brother a look. "It is far from _crap_."

Sasuke barely held up his hands in mock surrender. "Right. It's the nectar of the Gods."

"Ambrosia is disgusting compared this." Itachi confirmed. "Now spill your guts so you can get out of my face."

Sasuke didn't even flinch at the statement. He knew it was hollow. If Itachi was taking the time to make tea, he was concerned. Despite the insults, snide comments and blank face he wanted to help. In his own asshole-ish ways of course, but he was going to help nonetheless.

"I'm not sure if I've made a mistake or not."

Itachi raised his hand up to silence his little brother, digging through his kitchen cabinets as Sasuke sat a few feet away just inside the dining room.

"You messed up already. Not everything is about _you_."

"I didn't say it was about me." Sasuke shot impatiently.

"Hm, then I don't recall hearing about another person." Itachi replied dully.

"You didn't give me the chance..."

"Then just listen." Itachi began leisurely going about his kitchen, making his tea. "The world doesn't revolve around you. As much as you want it to, it doesn't, and it never will. Stop thinking about yourself, and think about whoever else is involved in your dilemma."

Smile inducing laugh, heart stopping smile, soft lips, gorgeous bright blue eyes, silky tan skin, enticing moans...

Sasuke let his head drop harshly on the bar counter. He wish he _wouldn't_ think about the other person.

"I know that. But I'm questioning so many things...I mean, come on Itachi, I ended up at your house." The younger pointed out easily.

"And you aren't going to tell me what you're questioning?"

Sasuke quickly shook his head. "Never."

Itachi let out the smallest, quietest, barely visible hint of a sigh. Sasuke caught it; no one else would have been able too.

"I suppose as your brother I'm suppose to give you some divine advice and send you on your way with a hug and a kiss."

"With _what_? How much acid will you have taken at that point? All you need to make it my worst nightmare is pink panties and a tiara." Sasuke grumbled. "The day you hug me is the day the world ends."

"Hmm." Itachi thought. "I should hug you sooner rather than later, I suppose."

"Get on with what you have to say."

"Of course." Itachi pulled out two mugs from his cabinet. A bright, lime green one that read_ Be a bitch today, and don't stop because it's tomorrow_. The other one was jet black and plain. He poured the tea into the two separate mugs and passed Sasuke the black one.

"You need to stop questioning so many things. Follow your gut. Hesitation brings loses. You don't want to hesitate and let him get away?"

Sasuke struggled to swallow a lump of steaming hot tea, his eyes growing in size and he slammed down the mug. "The hell do you mean?"

Itachi let a small, all-knowing smirk grace his face before he hid it behind his mug. "A little birdie told me."

"I'm going to rip off Shikamaru's wings."

"As much as I want to tell you that you are, in fact, an idiot...I really can't. Feelings, Sasuke, are unavoidable."

"Like my hate for you."

Itachi gave a small nod, "And the feeling of an upset stomach when I see your face." He replied dully. "The point I'm trying to make here little brother, is that feelings shouldn't be taken for granted or left to hang dry. Regret follows us for our whole lives. Don't let it stalk you. As much as I despise seeing you happy, don't deny that feeling to creep into your life. If it's in front of your face, you'll be a fool to let it go."

Sasuke was staring into his mug, thinking deeply. Itachi, of course, stole him from his thoughts.

"I hate to say it, but if you mention this to anyone I'll have to kill you." He added dully.

"I know."

"And..." He hesitated as he set down his mug on the counter. "Don't let the little blond idiot get away. If I have to deal with you moping, I'll kill the both of you. Not to mention, it takes a lot of talent to make you happy and murderous all at the same time. I like him."

Sasuke sighed, "I can't believe I'm about to talk to you about this. What...what if it's just lust?"

Itachi barely raised an eyebrow. "So many insults, not enough time. I digress. You're smart enough to tell the difference Sasuke. I hate to think you've actually done this..."

"I haven't had sex with him." He hissed with a menacing glare.

"No." Itachi began to walk out of the room, "I meant smile. If you've smiled because of him, truly smiled, it isn't lust. It takes true, real, raw feelings to make an Uchiha smile."

Sasuke smirked. "No wonder you're destined to be single. You'd horrify the poor woman if you did something like that."

* * *

Naruto pushed open the door to the apartment, dragging his backpack on the ground behind him. As soon as his eyes picked up off the floor, caught a glimpse; he immediately turned the hell back around.

"Where are you going my precious little Ken Doll?"

Naruto hung his head, if possible, even lower. He turned to give a menacing look over his shoulder at Kakashi, who was lounging on the couch like he owned the place.

"Look at that, you're so happy to see me! I'm thrilled."

Naruto turned, yet again, back around to start walking _back_ into the apartment. He kicked his bag along the way, trying to take out some aggression formed from annoyance.  
Kakashi swung his legs around and sat up, glancing at Naruto before turning his attention back to the television.

"As your boss, I'm supposed to tell you how unhappy I am to know you're acting like this. That is, of course, if you're acting like this around the client. As your friend and pseudo-father. I want to know if you're alright."

"As my boss, I'm not acting like this around anyone. As my pseudo-father, it's none of your damn business." Naruto shot, slamming the door behind him.

Kakashi let out a tiny sigh and heaved himself up. "Naruto..."

He flinched. Using his real name instead of cheap, random, and ridiculous nickname meant a slew of things. He was serious, that was for sure. He was concerned. He was ready to kill someone to get an answer. He was a step away from snapping if he didn't find out the truth.

The blond quietly walked over to the refrigerator and gently opened it, grabbing two of the beers he was told specifically not to touch. He didn't care at this point, his mind too wrapped up in other things.

He reached the couch and passed one bottle to Kakashi and they took a seat; the two of them working off the caps with the coffee table in front of them.

"Everything will be off record." Kakashi said lightly, take a sip. "I'm just Kakashi, not your boss."

Naruto gave a feeble chuckle, put the browned bottle to his lips, and chugged. He pulled it away once half was gone, his eyes watering from the harshness of the cold liquid burning his throat.

"I'm not sure." The blond mumbled. His eyes were lost in a daze, his mind swirling. "Everything is just going so wrong."

"How is that?" Kakashi asked gently.

"There's something there." Naruto mumbled. "I notice it, I see it, I _feel_ it." Tan fingers came up to brush at his chest before they wrapped around the bottle once more.

"And him?"

Naruto sighed, his face screwing up before relaxing. "I think he's starting to notice something. Whether it be he notices _I'm_ feeling, or he's feeling something. I'm not sure. I mean, he's never been with a guy, it might just be the shock value. It might be curiosity. I don't think he's feeling anything remotely close to serious."

Kakashi hummed, acknowledging not only what he said, but for him to continue.

"I might just be looking way too into this for my own good. You know? Maybe it's because I haven't been with someone in so long. Maybe it's because I'm trying to fill some misplaced void. Maybe it's because he's the only son of a bitch who can keep up with me..."

"But you aren't sure?" Kakashi clarified. "If you are feeling something or not."

"Some days." He admitted. "Others, I'm sure of what I'm feeling. I just question it."

"Why?" Kakashi asked, clearly confused. "You never question anything."

"The seriousness and the depth of it. I question it for _a lot_ of reasons."

Kakashi knew all the reasons. Any one who got wind of their situation could spot them. But knowing that of all people, Naruto was questioning his feelings, scared him.  
But the older man let out a sad sigh, bowing his head. His eyes took in the bottle wrapped in his hands, his mischievous glint and smile were gone.

"I didn't come here for inspection." Kakashi said gently. "I came as another random guest."

"About what?"

"Iruka came to me yesterday." Kakashi said softly. "He said he was doing paperwork when he came across your contract."

Naruto smiled softly just at the mere memory of Iruka. It was like having another mother in his life. When he found out that Naruto had come to Kakashi in search of a job to pay his parents back, he was irate. So no doubt, he was going to his lover about his precious little Naruto.

Instead, Naruto felt like he was suddenly punched in the gut.

"He was reading it over, making sure it was still in date when he read it thoroughly. By that I mean, he practically went over it with a magnifying glass."

"So?" Naruto asked skeptically.

"Its the fine print and the tricky wording." Kakashi sighed. He seemed to struggle with the words for a moment, as if trying to figure out how to say them. "They hooked you, Naruto."

Naruto remembered hearing that term before. As in, they hooked him like a sucker, and they were keeping him on that line as long as they wanted.  
"They told you you could work off your father's debts, yes. They never told you about the interest."

A sudden flash reminded him of someone telling him 'it's the interest that kills you'.

"What...interest?"

"From all the years he's been gone. Everyday tacks on more money. Its adding up."

It felt like his insides were growing cold and freezing over, little by little it began to fall apart.

"How..." He sucked in a great breath. "How much? I mean...how long am I going to be working for?"

Kakashi looked over him with sadden eyes. "Everyday your father is gone, is just another day you have to stay with us. You agreed to work off your family debt. Until he comes back, you stay with us."  
Naruto swallowed the lump just as it formed, and quickly finished the rest of the bottle before slowly getting up to grab another. Quietly he came back and sat down, placing the bottle to his lips as he waited for Kakashi to finish.

"There is a simple loophole, but I doubt you'll like it."

He gave a small nod for him to continue, knowing that he most likely wouldn't.

"You can quit. Whenever you want, actually. Only if you turn in your parents."

Naruto sighed, finishing the new bottle of beer and tossing it on the table for it to clank and then roll away.

"If I don't pull something out of my ass at the office, you won't be working for us long anyway. Your reports are never good." Kakashi said gently, pausing to finish his own bottle of beer. "If you really _do_ think something is forming, _quit_. I love them, but let your parents worry about themselves. Let them be the adults. Because in the end, that is what it will boil down to. Him or your parents."

Naruto gave a half a smile. Kakashi almost left the company for Iruka. He was prepared to run, just like Naruto's parents. It wasn't until Iruka went without a word and applied for the company that relief found him at the prospect of desk jobs together. Despite the fact Iruka lied about love, feelings and everything in between; he still got the job. After he and Kakashi became open about their relationship, they refused to let anyone who had bought or rented from the company to work there.

"Otherwise..." Kakashi sighed, looking down at the bottle sadly. "You just need to leave and move on while you can. Start with another renter and pretend like this never happened. If you want to help your parents, that's what you'll have to do."

The blond gave sad chuckle, setting his bottle next to Kakashi's on the coffee table. "Because you're my boss?"

"No." He glanced over, just his eyes before leaning fully into the couch. "Because getting attached usually brings heartache in this company. You getting attached will bring even more – like losing this job that you so desperately want to keep to help your parents. But, I have to say not following your heart, your instinct – whatever, is worse. Look at what I would have lost, as an example. You just have to remember there is a choice to be made. A large, horribly difficult choice. Choosing between feelings and family is never fun."

"Then, as my boss, my friend, and a father; what do what you think is right?"

Kakashi turned to him, his arms crossed over his chest, "I want you to look at me."

Naruto chuckled as he shifted on the couch, turning towards him. "What? Is this some hypnotizing technique or something? Help ease my troubled mind and make the choice easier?"

Blue eyes swept up, taking in the floor and Kakashi's tattered jeans quickly. He had never seen the man's eyes hold such a serious look. He felt himself go a little rigid with nervousness, wondering what Kakashi had in store for him.

"Say Sasuke's name." He said simply.

The blond shrugged, and said it lightly with question. "Sasuke?"

"Say it normally, like it fits in the middle of a sentence in a conversation."

"Sasuke."

Kakashi looked away, his fingers coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose as a sigh escaped his lips. He turned back to the blond and set his face to stone once more.

"Say family."

"Family..." Naruto trailed off lightly, sadness tainting his voice.

"Why did you say it like that?" Kakashi asked gently.

"Because...with Sasuke, I won't get my family back."

* * *

Kakashi slept on the couch that night. Shikamaru left early before dinner heading to Temari's.

Sasuke and Naruto lay in bed, the barrier back with a vengeance. The night ticked along with the clock hanging on the far wall, the sound amplified by the silence that stilled the air.  
A tan face peaked through the pillows that were separating him from Sasuke and he squinted against the darkness to try and take in his face.

"What are you doing, moron?"

Naruto bristled. "I was going to try and talk to you, but forget it."

Sasuke smirked as the face disappeared behind the pillows once more. "Good."

Of course, it wasn't his intention to actually mutter it. For he knew, without a doubt, it was like provoking some type of crazed beast.

A blond head popped up in the dark of the room, bright blue eyes were reflected from the street lamps shining through the window. Naruto let out an indignant huff and crossed his arms heatedly over his bare chest.

"You fucking started it and now you're being an ass."

Sasuke pursed his lips and looked towards the ceiling, intending on ignoring the blond for the rest of the night. If he could ignore the world, theoretically he could ignore Naruto, too.  
Apparently, the blond was ready to test that theory to its fullest.

He hopped up on his knees and started tugging away the pillows that separated them, tossing them over his head and grazing blond locks. He gave a growl as he ripped the blanket off the bed as well and threw it, Sasuke jerking up when the cool air hit him. Of course Sasuke immediately shot back down with a roll of his eyes when he realized they were both just in boxers.

He glared through the darkened room, sighing in frustration. He didn't want to deal with this. He would rather plead temporary insanity and go about his night. Of course, Naruto had other intentions entirely.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, you stupid bastard!"

"Nothing is wrong with me."

"You're a shitty liar. You might be a prick and this might be your usual asshole aura, but I know something is wrong." Naruto shot.

"Give it a rest." Sasuke grumbled.

"Was it all because of what happened? If it is, it won't happen again, alright. I'll just get a new client or something and get out of your hair and never-"

"You talk too much." Sasuke sighed.

Naruto settled back on his feet, looking down at his lap as he played with the tips of his fingers.

"The..." Sasuke paused to search for the right word. "Feeling that I got was what's confusing, I suppose you'd say. I don't like being confused. End of story."

The blond looked up, azure eyes searching for coal twins, but finding a pale cheek as Sasuke turned to look away. "You've never kissed a guy before, have you?"

A blind man could see Sasuke's shaking his head back and forth. Naruto even felt a little silly for asking such an obvious question.

"Why'd you get so mad then? It couldn't just be because you're confused." He asked lightly.

There was a pause where he figured he pushed his luck far enough, and Sasuke was done answering everything he asked. He was shocked when he noticed his mouth bobbing open and close, struggling for the right answer.

"Because, Naruto." Sasuke finally sighed out.

The blond went to protest that was still the lamest answer in history, easily remembering the damn sentence so many times in his life. He blinked back the shock when Sasuke finished his sentence.

"Because it felt right."

A pause froze the air. Naruto stilled his fiddling with his fingers. A part of his mind chanted in hope that that statement entailed something stronger. That Sasuke's was insinuating that it felt right kissing _him_. Another side yelled that it wasn't that at all. Sasuke was just possibly discovering a part of his sexuality he never stole a chance to look into. His hope for something more was what moved him.

Sasuke sat up, in some way he was ready to continue this conversation. He knew Naruto wouldn't let something so important just pass. He knew, with how the blond was, he'd question him into eternity. He was far from awake enough to try and ignore him.

Naruto silently crawled to Sasuke's side, stopping when he was deep enough into his comfort zone. He sat back again, scooting closer till his knees were touching Sasuke's thigh.  
Coal eyes glanced at him. He was playing with his hands in his lap as if contemplating something. Sasuke watched as his fingers pulled apart, one stretching out and just barely resting higher up on his thigh.

Sasuke untangled his arms that were crossed over his chest. For a moment he hesitated, and that moment had Naruto squeezing his eyes shut. His eyes snapped open when he felt fingers drag up on top of his, resting lightly. The blond looked up to find Sasuke looking away, his posture rigid from being unsure and slightly uncomfortable.

Hesitating for a moment, Naruto wondered what he should do. Acting on impulse was what led him to moving from his comfortable spot. The action caused Sasuke to look back to him, unconsciously curious as to what the blond was doing.

Naruto silently crawled onto his lap – slowly and cautiously – creating the same position they were in earlier that mere morning. He placed his knees on either side of Sasuke's waist, his legs curling underneath and sitting by Sasuke's thighs.

He brought his hands up to run them through Sasuke's thick, coarse hair. He could feel fingertips grazing his thighs and questionably trailing up his bare sides. Naruto trailed his fingers out of Sasuke's hair, his hands dropping on his shoulders and skimming down his arms gently.

Sasuke was the one to lean forward and tilt his head up to connect their lips suddenly. The tense air seemed to drive him to the brink of insanity if he found himself doing something like that.  
But it was just as wonderful as it had been before.

Just having their lips touch gave Sasuke a tingle crawling up his spine. He felt Naruto's fingers dig into his hair and Sasuke felt himself running his hands up Naruto's bare back.

Caught up in the heat of the moment, the both of them knew that tonight would be the night were limits and boundaries would be tested to the fullest.

* * *

The blond glanced over at Sasuke. He noticed not only the awkward silence that surrounded them, but also that the raven was on the other far side of the bed as close to the edge as possible. It wasn't as if they had gone all the way, but the blond still figured it would be awkward after someone first explored something completely opposite of what they were used to. Naruto rolled over, covering some of the space that separated them. A tan hand snaked its way across the rest of the empty bed and flicked at an exposed pale arm.

Sasuke turned, his dark eyes showing through the darkness, unintentionally causing the blond to smile.

"What?" Sasuke asked in a whisper, suddenly mentally aware of other people in the apartment.

"Nothing." Naruto said, shrugging.

The blond shuffled and crawled across the empty space that separated them. He moved Sasuke's arm on his own and laid beside him. The raven didn't make one single sound of disapproval and left Naruto taking that as a sign that it was okay.

Naruto tossed one leg over Sasuke's before resting his hand on his chest, letting out a hum of contempt as well. It took a moment for Sasuke's to respond, no doubt mentally questioning things too much. Finally, he responded.

Naruto felt his arm shift behind him, and Naruto graciously lifted his head to allow Sasuke's arm to move more easily before he place his head back down.

His fingertips tangled as best they could with his arm at the awkward angle it was stuck in, enjoying the feel of Naruto's. He felt Naruto's fingertips begin to draw invisible shapes on his bare stomach. Sasuke sighed as he rested his cheek atop a blond head, his hand drifting down to slide against the curve of his shoulder. He felt Naruto wiggle slightly and shift around, trying to get perfectly comfortable before he let out a sigh, signaling just that.

His head was nestled just on the side of Sasuke's chest and his back rested against his arm that held him. Trying to fight it as best as he could, his eyelids were fluttering, trying to stay awake. Trying to let this moment last as long as possible, Naruto fought his eyes till the bitter end. Sasuke's hand pulled back his bangs, effectively making Naruto close his eyes as a simple reflex. Sasuke felt his fingertips drag lightly, stuttering in their actions of playing with his stomach. Then, they fell limp.

All that could be heard over the light snores that leaked out of Naruto was the smack of Sasuke's palm as it roughly connected with his own forehead.

* * *

The next morning, Sasuke woke with an unexpected start. He stared dazedly around the room trying to get a hold of his barrings, and separate his dreams from reality. He turned to check the other side of the bed only to find it messy. The sheets were askew, folded over showing signs of someone leaving it.

He figured Naruto was in the living room, entertaining Kakashi and most likely playing a video game and talking up their physical relationship. He wouldn't lie, but he knew it would make it seem more than it really was with tricky wording.

He opened the door, scratching at his side and stifling a yawn.

All he found was silence. The television was shut off, all the lights were out and it was completely quiet. It was the fifteenth, and Shikamaru had already stated something about plans on that day, he wasn't expected to be home when Sasuke woke.

It was a small post-it note that he caught sight of. Just a tiny piece of paper that stuck out on the empty table. He walked over to it and quickly snatched it up before he felt a sharp, sudden and quickly disappearing pain in his chest. He would never in a million years tell anyone, or even let an iota of it show. He read the small paper several times.

_Dear Sasuke,  
Your friends will get a full refund._

Sasuke squinted at the tiny paper. There was a line that was scribbled over viscously. Underneath the clustered black lines that dug into the paper, he could easily make out the words: _I'm sorry_. Next to it the words took him awhile to decipher.

But then he decoded it.

_Thank you...for everything._

* * *

Author's Notes: Now, for everyone to get mad at me.  
I have an unedited version of this chapter written out, edited (if you want to call my poor excuse that) and posted on my livejournal. Everyone can flame, bitch and go on and on as much as they want; but it is either this way, or I leave this site for good. I hope you all can be understanding of this decision.  
Also – As soon as I can find the time, all other mature scenes will be edited out of my other fictions.  
– My livejournal link is in my profile, and all mature scenes from here on out will be posted there.  
– The unedited chapter will be up later this evening/tonight.


	15. Is It Love?

Chapter Fifteen: Is It Love?

Author's Notes: Quick update! I feel the end of this fiction coming up faster than I expected! Once I figure out when it will end, I'll be sure to let you all know.

Warning/Disclaimer: Been done!

Chapter Fifteen: Is It Love?

December 17th

* * *

It had been two days since Naruto had been taken away by Kakashi in the middle of the night. Determined to save Sasuke from bankruptcy and possibly ruining his chance to help his parents, Naruto left. He didn't want to say goodbye face to face with Sasuke. It would hurt too much. Despite the resounding pain leaving had already left him with, a note was simpler. He wouldn't have to see Sasuke's impassive face, uncaring about it all. He wouldn't have to face the unrequited love that trapped him. He could run away and do his best to put it behind him.

_"I'm not going to hurt you..."_

He mentally left out the nickname in his thoughts, his face screwing up in distaste at the remembered line. Despite Sasuke's calloused ways on the surface, deep down Naruto knew that statement was true to the heart. Sasuke never had any intention of hurting him, which was what hurt even more. He knew the raven wouldn't intentionally hurt him like that. Never.

Naruto was the one who hurt himself. Being forewarned about avoiding emotional attachments didn't seem to stick in his thoughts very well. The warning didn't help him in the least. His feelings, he knew, were unavoidable despite the words of warning.

The blond was pulled out of his thoughts when Kakashi appeared at his side, a folder tucked under his arm and two cups of coffee in his hands.  
The grayed man sat down next to him and sipped his coffee, glancing up over the rim of the cup to make sure the security guard was paying them no mind.

"You still have other options, Naruto." He advised, knowing he was hurting and handing over the other cup. "You know what they are."

"I don't want to risk those on chance." Naruto mumbled, a touch of gloom tinting his usually perky voice. "I can't risk everything on the chance he feels nothing but his libido."

"What do you want then?" Kakashi asked, doing his best to help him cope.

"I just want to make sure he doesn't get screwed over." Naruto mumbled. "I want everything to go back to normal for him."

Kakashi looked him over before standing up, "I'll tell them it was a _Renter_ failure. That way he wasn't happy with the idea or some nonsense. I'll talk my way out of it. I'll make sure of everything goes back to normal, I promise. That way his friends can get their money back and you can still work for us. I work the rules over for you."

Kakashi got up and walked down the hallway, pausing briefly to chat with another worker passing by before continuing on to his status meeting.

Naruto remembered the conversation he had had with Sasuke upon explaining the rules. He absently remembered one little line out of the long and somewhat terrifying conversation. The first time he thought Sasuke was actually going to kill him.

"_We won't get anything if we fall in love_."

He cursed under his breath and kicked at the table in front of him, the security guard giving him a warning-type of look before he went back to reading his magazine.

He thought at the time, during the explanation, that sentence would never come back to haunt him. If either of them fell in love with each other, it was going to fail. So many rules and problems made sure of that. Money, jobs, contracts; it crushed any hopes if they even happened. He thought everyone was screwed out of anything at that point; if they both felt the same way. He could honestly say he understood wholeheartedly why his parents ran.

He didn't think he would end up with nothing just because of a damn feeling, but love could do that sometimes. Especially when you worked for a company like this.

"Naruto?"

The blond looked up at the familiar voice and immediately all the air in his lungs were crushed out of him. He was yanked out of his chair, his coffee almost splashing out of the cup.

"Iru...Iruka!" He coughed. "Let up..."

The older man did so, pulling Naruto back by his shoulders and gave him good look over. He spun the blond around, receiving a roll of blue eyes. Iruka ran a relived hand over his ponytail and let out a sigh.

"I honestly didn't want to have to kill Kakashi, but if he hurt you bringing you back...well, we do what we must."

Naruto smiled and chuckled lightly. Iruka was still very much Iruka.

"Where's that man anyway?" The elder asked, letting his hands fall away as he looked around.

"He's with the company heads trying to keep my job while helping out Sasuke."

"Sasuke?"

"The client." Naruto said.

Iruka nodded, giving the blond a curious glance before tapping his shoulder and signaling for him to follow along. The two walked down the long, empty white hallways. Naruto felt like he was in a hospital more than a work building. They turned several times, occasionally they would stop for Iruka to pause to make polite conversation with someone passing by. The two of them finally found their way to Iruka's office, tucked away in a far corner of the building. Iruka handled matching Clients and the people who they rent as well as handling contracts and renewals.

Naruto shuffled in the office past Iruka while the man was talking to a random assigning agent and manager – Kakashi's job. The blond yanked open a drawer in Iruka's office where he hid his sweets and he helped himself to a few candy bars.

Iruka came in a second later, a few new files gracing his arms as he tipped them on the desk with a sigh. He sat on the opposite side of the desk while Naruto took up his comfortable office chair and stared at him in waiting. The blond always knew if he was dragged into Iruka's office it was always concerning private matters.

"I didn't think Kakashi was bringing you back." He sighed out. "Are you staying?"

Naruto nodded almost immediately. "I'm not turning in my parents."

Iruka nodded, figuring this. "I've already lined up a new client. If you want. We'll all understand if you want a break. Though..."

Naruto decided to talk with his mouth wide open and full. "The interest. I know, and I appreciate your thoughts. As soon as Kakashi handles things with the evil bastards upstairs, I'd like to move on to a new client."

Iruka's eyes looked over Naruto and a frown carved on his face. "Don't tell me Kakashi's gut feeling was right?"

"What gut feeling?" Naruto asked, taking a chuck off of the candy.

"When he came back from the first meeting...He told me the two of you were in to deep already."

Naruto brow shot up before slamming back down in a furrow. "That's bullshit, Iruka."

"So you don't have feelings for him?"

"Can I hear more about the new client and less about the old one, please?"

Iruka opened his mouth to say something more, but let the thought pass. He really couldn't bring himself to ask Naruto about feelings when he looked like he just ripped his own heart out.

* * *

It had been two days since Naruto left. At some point during the second day; Sasuke's friends had gotten their money back as well as Itachi and Sasuke still had money in his bank account. After an extensive (and forced) talk with Shikamaru, the genius supplied his thoughts. Even feeling kind, he left out the points he had made just the other day as to not rub them in Sasuke's face.

"Then the refund would mean Naruto fell in love with you, right?"

Sasuke sighed, "With what Naruto had said, yes."

"Saw that coming..." Shikamaru muttered, referring to Naruto's feelings. "He'd get fired, correct?"

Sasuke nodded.

"Now call me crazy, but if someone was insane enough to love you, they'd probably come back once they had nothing to hold them back. Such as Naruto doing what he's doing to help his family and not having the job anymore."

Sasuke didn't say a word or make a movement of acknowledgment.

"And you wanted that."

Sasuke looked away towards the front door, his eyes unconsciously flicking in its direction before quickly looking away to study the ground.

"You started feeling something as well, didn't you?"

Sasuke's head dropped, his face finding the palm of his hand before his fingers came to pinch the bridge of his nose. He didn't want to admit he fell so hard, so fast. To the world it seemed impossible, to him it happened.

"I can't tell you what to do...and expect you to do it." Shikamaru continued on. "I hate to break the news to you, but we all liked you more with Naruto around. If I didn't I wouldn't have opened my mouth the other day."

Sasuke shot his friend an incredulous look. "By that you mean?"

"He brought out the better, less bastard, side of you. You - most likely without noticing it - were easier to deal with."

Sasuke's eyes were beginning to sharpen into a glare. "What exactly do you mean, Shikamaru?"

The other sighed, resting his head back against the fluff of the recliner. "You love making me talk, you sadistic bastard. You were _happy_ around him. You were your true self around him. Whether you yourself noticed it or not is a completely different story. We all did. He made you happy. I'll go as far to say he made you bearable to be around. You have feelings there."

"Nope." Sasuke quipped. "Not possible. I don't harbor any feelings towards him."

Shikamaru spared enough energy to raise an eyebrow in question. "Don't be so formal in your bullshitting ways. A blind man could tell."

"I didn't and I don't." Sasuke stated with finality.

"Denial is quite easier, I agree. You don't have to put up with the hurt and regret. Good show." He drew out with sarcasm.

"It isn't denial." Sasuke spat.

"Denying denial. Only an Uchiha, I suppose." Shikamaru let out a small chuckle.

"So what? You want me to fight for something that might not even exist? Don't you understand? Naruto lied about everything else so he could stay and _make money_. Nothing more. Who's to say he didn't lie about falling in love with me because he could tell I _might_ have been feeling something? I wasn't sleeping with him, which means less money which means more time away from his family. Who's to say that's not the reason? His family. He was doing all of this to help his parents. Why would I get in the way of that? Why would I try to destroy a family that's already on fragile ground? He never said outright he was feeling _anything_ for me, anyway. Why would you chase heartbreak? Tell me."

The other sighed. "So you do care about him."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and tried to hold back a scream. "It _doesn't_ matter."

"Let's have a little test, shall we?"

"No."

"Just say his name."

"No."

"All you have to do is say _Naruto_ and I'll leave you alone." Shikamaru said gently.

"Naruto." Sasuke replied in annoyance, standing to leave the living room and hold up in his own room.

"No." Shikamaru said as the other walked away, he leaned forward in his chair. "Say it like you usually would. Not out of annoyance."

"Usually saying that moron's name was spawned from annoyance." He barked over his shoulder, grasping the door handle to his room.

"Just say it, Uchiha." He called as Sasuke walked in his room, the other ready to slam the door.

But there was a pause. Shikamaru looked up towards the doorway to his friends' room where he was lingering off to the side. No doubt he was ready to snap the door shut on this conversation when he heard his friend speak.

"Naruto..."

The door shut sharply, leaving Shikamaru there alone in the living room with a small smile.

"If you say it like that..." He muttered to himself. "You're just giving yourself away."

To say it with yearning, with joy, with sorrow, with hate, happiness, giddiness, thoughtfulness...all wrapped in one name. To say it full of emotion, only to deny that feeling.  
It was most likely easier, after all.

"Completely foolish, troublesome bastard." Shikamaru sighed.

* * *

"It is a woman." Iruka supplied. "Are you alright with that?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, one gay man speaking to another, trying to... preform sexual acts with a woman is rather difficult." Iruka replied.

"I love how you make sex sound like a science project." Naruto snorted.

"Well..." Iruka huffed, clearly fed up with Naruto's new attitude. "We have pills to give you, I suppose they'll do."

The blond nodded, clearly not interested in the conversation at all. It was obvious his mind was somewhere else.

"Are you sure about this Naruto?" Iruka asked lightly. "Kakashi said you were trying out college. That would be so good for you."

"I have to do this Iruka." Naruto said lightly, playing with the candy wrapper. "If not, I would have left to figure out everything with..." He sighed, looking down.

"Now is better than ever, I suppose."

Naruto looked up, his brow bunched in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You, young man, are giving up on someone you shouldn't be giving up on."

Iruka leaned over his desk and yanked open a drawer. His hand fiddled around and shuffled things aside before his fingers grasped an envelope.

"How do you know? It isn't like he felt anything. Come on Iruka, I was like a test subject for his sexuality. A prank gift from his friends. Nothing more."

"How do you know that? You're just going to give up so easily? Without knowing for yourself with solid proof."

"So you want me to gamble my family on the _possibility_ Sasuke is in fact feeling something for me? Is that what you're trying to tell me?" Naruto argued.

"Family, Naruto, is forever." Iruka said waving the white envelope. "Love can get away from you."

Iruka handed off the envelope before settling back into a chair with a sigh. Naruto took it with a bit of apprehension, not knowing what was going on at all. He cracked it open and unfolded the paper, took a glance and snapped his head up towards Iruka.

"Go ahead." He urged.

_To my dearest Naruto,_

_I hope one day you'll be able to read this and understand with a kind and forgiving heart. I hope as well that perhaps, in the future, you could release me from this heavy guilt and forgive._  
_I love you unconditionally from the bottom of my heart. You are my first and only son, in which, you have made a special place in my soul. Your father and I adore every part of you, and lying about that hurt me deeply. It was the only way._  
_Explanations are to be given, even though I feel giving them through a letter isn't enough. I know that you have every right to be mad at your father and I, but I hope one day I can have my baby boy back with this all behind us in the past._  
_We wanted you to have the best life you could possibly have, Naruto. You were born to shine. You had so many talents, you were full of life and happiness. The more we moved and the more we ran, the more that light around you faded. Things you loved and cared for were taken away from you. Your happiness was jeopardized for our own selfishness._  
_Minato and I waited for the opportunity to let you go. Though we did our best to prepare for your departure, every night I cried myself to sleep at the thought of losing you. We loved the fact you wanted to stay with us, our stubborn son through and through. But we wanted you, more than anything, to have the life you deserved. You deserved a steady home, a steady school, a steady goal, career and most importantly, a steady smile._  
_I don't care that you're gay. No mother should. You should love your family unconditionally no matter what. I'm truly sorry I led you to believe I didn't love you because of that. We discussed it with Kakashi at that point, to take you and watch over you. We asked that, when the time is absolutely right, to give this to you._  
_Which means Iruka will decide that._

"Good call..." Naruto muttered.

_Please know son, that we love you. That once we have figured this entire thing out to the fullest, that you'll return to us. I, as well as your father, beg you to forgive us. I know as well as he does that it will take time if it happens at all. Truly, from the bottom of our hearts, we're sorry. We sincerely hope that your life is full of happiness and following an easy path. We hope you found a life you deserved - full of everything you've ever wanted. No hardships and loss, only smiles and joy. We wish nonstop that your days are filled with smiles and laughter and a life we dreamed for you._  
_We love you, so very much._

_– Mom and Dad_

His fingers were clutching the paper, crinkling it under his harsh grasp. His mind swirled, leaving him almost dizzy. That was, of course, until a voice came and shook him to the core; echoing loudly in his mind.

"_Deep down, your parents still love you..."_

The blond grit his teeth and barely shook his head, trying to rid Sasuke's haunting voice. _  
_  
"Why are you giving this to me now?" Naruto asked, glancing up before his eyes found the paper again.

Iruka sighed, lacing his fingers together and leaning forward on the desk. "You need to realize you aren't the parent. You need to let go of a burden that _isn't_ yours and follow your parents wishes. Let them be adults and figure out their own situation, Naruto."

"But..."

"You needed to see that it wasn't easy." Iruka interrupted. "I knew if I gave this letter to you sooner, no doubt you would have been more determined to join the company to help your family. But your parents didn't want that."

"But..."

"No buts, Naruto. None. Your mother clearly spelled it out for you. To live, that's what she wanted. Happily and everything. Not trapped in an endless loophole of giving up on love and life. I'm not telling you or making you quit. It is your decision alone. But dear, please consider everything. College, happiness, a career, a life outside of all _this._ Love."

Naruto opened his mouth, no doubt not in the mood to think things over and simply jump the gun. As usual.

"Take time to think it over." Iruka sighed. "This client isn't scheduled for two more days any way. I'll give you until the end of the second day."

* * *

Another day had come to pass. The eighteenth of December was looming over all of them. Christmas was fast approaching. School was now on holiday leave, and Sasuke was thankful for at least that. Even though it had come early due to a large pipe bursting and the school needing repairs, he wasn't mad about it. A break from projects and tests and things that usually caused headaches and moody behaviors.

He worked more than he had ever worked in his life. He pulled double shifts nearly everyday even with the disapproving glances Tsunade kept sending him, he continued on. He wasn't open with the thoughts and feelings that were plaguing him. Most knew that, even though he hid them so well, he was painting himself obvious. He was more crabby than usual and more impassive than ever before. It didn't take long for everyone to put the pieces of that puzzle together. Ever since Naruto left, he had sunk back into himself.

"What do you think?" Tsunade asked.

The restaurant had been closed for a little while now, and now all the patrons had come and gone. The bar was almost put up completely, only two stools remained on standing; both occupied by frequent visitors.

"He is definitely an Uchiha." The man commented.

"As one myself," Itachi replied, picking up his glass, "I couldn't agree with that statement more, Jiraiya."

"When do you think he'll snap out of it?" Tsunade inquired.

Itachi gave a bit of a noise, almost a hum. "He isn't used to this, Sasuke. He isn't quite sure what to do with himself. Falling so hard so fast is complex enough, but to have the rug pulled out from underneath him is rather confusing. Wondering if the love was ever returned and such. Sasuke is one who prefers to be in control of everything, though. Naruto stole that away from him at the very last second."

"So, the little shit got his heart broken." Jiraiya decoded.

"Yes." Itachi sipped his drink. "Though, he won't admit it. He wants to pretend like this never happened. Not only was his sexuality put in question, but as was his faith in friendship and trust."

"So..." Jiraiya sighed, rubbing at his forehead. "That little shit is hurting."

"I appreciate your loving nickname for Sasuke, by the way." Itachi commented offhandedly. "Yes. He's hurting. We were raised to push are emotions back into the depths of our minds and forget them. Yet, love is so strong I dare say it is past impossible. Leave it to my stubborn, moronic brother to try his best though."

"What should we do?" Tsunade asked. "I mean, he's complex. You both are. A situation like this is a tad touchy and awkward."

"Let him get through it on his own." Itachi said, covering a sigh. "It's as much as we can possibly do."

"You can also stop talking about me like I'm not three feet away from you." Sasuke said bitterly, sweeping the floor.

"Apologies, little brother." Itachi said, turning on his stool to face him. "We are simply concerned."

"There isn't anything to be concerned about." Sasuke bit.

"So loving." Itachi said wistfully. "Lying, I hate to say, is not your strong suit."

Sasuke stopped mid stroke of the broom and straightened up to face his brother. "Then what do you suppose I do Itachi?"

The elder smirked and let off a bit of a condescending snort. "Fight for it. Love isn't something you give up on so easily."

"I can't fight for it." Sasuke snapped.

"So adorable at that age." Itachi replied. "So dense. Think, though I know it is truly difficult for you. There are ways and means to fix this."

"There isn't anything to be fixed." He replied, going back to his task at hand.

"Its creepy isn't it?" Jiraiya remarked to Tsunade, squeezing her hand that sat below his own.

"What?" She asked lightly, looking away from the two bickering brothers.

"Such impassive men talking about love."

She snorted and retracted her hand, going about the finishing touches to cleaning the bar. "It is, but there isn't any other way. The stubborn fool could, of course, only listen to the advice of a psychopath."

"What makes you think Sasuke's listening?" He asked, flicking a few stray gray bangs from his face.

"He's thinking." Tsunade remarked. "You can see it in his eyes. He's been trying to hide it for days, but the aggravation of his brother always brings it to the surface."

"How to get the mail order bride back?"

She smiled. "Something like that."

* * *

Author's Note: This chapter gave me a headache. A large one.


	16. Point of No Return

Chapter Sixteen: Point of No Return

Author's Notes: I didn't want to post this until I had chapter seventeen done, but, I guess I got too eager. The next chapter will (should...I hope) be up before the end of the month. If I'm super lucky, this will be _completed_ by the end of the month. No, that isn't a promise, but there aren't many chapters left to go.

Warnings/Disclaimer: I warn you that this chapter drags in the beginning, I'm sorry. Also, music abuse. I don't own it...still. Damn.

Chapter Sixteen: Point of No Return

* * *

December 19th-

Shikamaru let his knuckles tap against the door. He couldn't really recall the last time he knocked on Sasuke's door instead of just letting himself in. Then again, he couldn't really recall the last time a bedroom door looked so grave. It seemed like Sasuke was trying to shut out the world, determined to deal with these new emotions with himself alone.

Shikamaru gripped the instrument in his other hand better, trying not to drop it and have it break. He raised his hand once more to knock when the door pulled open slowly. He was at least happy to see Sasuke taking the time to actually sleep. Lately all he had been doing was working, and as nice as it was to have rent paid early, he didn't want his friend to work himself into exhaustion.  
Shikamaru held up the acoustic bass guitar with a small grin. Sasuke shook his head from side to side, and the other frowned. Shikamaru didn't bother giving up. Despite his lazy will, he had a stubborn mind. He pushed his way inside and set his guitar on the bed before heading for Sasuke's closet.

He had forced him to play many times before and he wasn't afraid to do it again.

Shikamaru grabbed the tattered case and tugged it up and out of it's little place in the closet. He absently chuckled when he remembered a moment with Naruto. The blond, determined to find out why Shikamaru didn't play an instrument, the blond insisted he learned to play guitar with him. Upon finding out Shikamaru played bass, he yelled at Sasuke about lying. Sasuke, on the other hand, told him to pay attention to technicalities. He never said he didn't play bass.

He came out and handed over the case silently, and without fighting it, Sasuke sat down and pulled out his guitar.

The two of them tuned their acoustic instruments silently next to each other. Plucking the strings and turning the tuners. Sasuke's fingers danced up the neck playing through a scale before settling with the sound.

"You need to move on to a no-fret." Shikamaru commented gently.

Sasuke looked at the seemingly blank neck of the acoustic bass and frowned. "I like my guitar how it is."

"Of course you do." He sighed.

Sasuke eyed him before looking back down at his guitar, trailing his fingers around as he played a few chords from a song he enjoyed.

"Was that supposed to be a metaphor about my attitude?"

"Or your situation, or both really. We can apply it to just about everything right now." Shikamaru commented.

His fingers plucked, now becoming an assistance to Sasuke's guitar; the two of playing a quick snippet of a song.

"You just want me to move on?"

Shikamaru began another song, one that Sasuke was easily familiar with and he silently joined along. The two of them strummed and plucked lightly, the sound a bit quieter.

"If that's how you perceive it. I suppose that's also a route you could take. Moving on and not looking back..."

"Then how did you mean it?"

Shikamaru tapped his bass, plucking quickly and then frowned. This wasn't a song he shouldn't have started. It was too much for an acoustic session.

"_I_ meant it personally as moving on to a better situation. Not necessarily letting go."

"No-fret is not better." Sasuke interjected.

"So being happy isn't better?" Shikamaru retorted, a smile gracing his features. "I'm saying it as moving on to a better situation. Despite what you think, you can control this. You can control whether you stay here in this misery, or go for something better. Like no frets... or Naruto."

Sasuke scowled, strumming a cooling tune. "I'm not miserable."

"Right, and Elvis is partying in Hawaii." Shikamaru muttered, easily going unheard with the cover of their music. "Either way, take it as you will."

Sasuke muttered something before switching songs in the middle of a riff, leaving Shikamaru to glare.

"You people are treating this situation like there is more to it than Naruto leaving."

"And you're treating it the exact same way."

Sasuke slapped his hands down on his strings, creating an awful tune but silencing the music. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Shikamaru let his face pull into a grimace before he returned to his concentration on his bass. He started a song that Sasuke immensely enjoyed.

"I never knew one could be so bitterly in love."

Silently, without a retort, Sasuke joined in on the song.

* * *

Naruto stood there on sands of the beach at the edge of the water. His feet were slowly sinking into the warm sand, the gentle waves washing up the shore and splashing his shins. His jeans were rolled up to his knees, his hands dug into his pockets. A guitar case was resting against his back as he stared out at the calm ocean. He glanced up and watched as a plane flew past, wondering if any other passengers had a flight that seemed to have lasted as long as his did only two days ago.

"Get distracted?" A familiar voice called.

"A little." Naruto admitted, watching the sun set slowly. Two days away from Sasuke and it seemed as if the sun settled sooner than usual. He had only a short time before he made up his mind. "The first lesson ended early."

"How's that case working out for you? Kakashi said you wanted a soft one."

"Its fine." Naruto muttered, still lost in his thoughts. "You didn't have to."

"I wanted to. If you need to, think of it as a Christmas present."

The blond sighed, glancing down at the water that was curling around his ankles as it receded back into the ocean. He frowned.

"Why is it still warm enough to be at the beach so close to Christmas? That seems almost wrong."

"Your mother always liked the warm weather and you could never get enough of the beach. You loved the water. That's why we always stayed at places like these. Your mother and I used to live up the road actually, before you were born."

The blond turned and looked, a frown still covering his lips. "Why did you want to meet up, dad?"

Minato laughed, rubbing at the back of his identical blond hair just like Naruto did. It was easily apparent they were father and son.

"Kakashi called. Iruka stole the phone and told me everything. I suppose this meeting is long overdue."

"Then why isn't mom here?"

Minato bent down and began to roll up his pants tightly, slipping out of his shoes and socks, and then stood by his son's side in the shallow water.

"I didn't want her to know what I was going to do."

The younger turned and glanced out of the corner of his eye, catching the small features on his father's face pull in directions he never saw them in before. A frown, creases of worry, eyes lost in endless thought.

"What are you planning on doing dad?"

Minato shrugged. "What you and your mother do best. Act first, think later."

Naruto sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Please don't do anything to hurt mom."

Minato opened his mouth and then thoughtfully closed it. He ran a hand through his hair several times before turning to face his son properly. Naruto turned politely to face him as well, worry creasing his brow.

"Son..." Minato sighed, trying to find the right words. "I feel as though I've already hurt you and your mother enough. There shouldn't have been hurt in the beginning really. Everyone has been trying to accommodate to everyone else and it hasn't been working. Now we're starting to try and make amends and fix things for each other and with that we're all getting hurt more. Naruto, I have a chance to make things right for you and your mother."

The blond shook his head. "I have it under control."

"You lie as bad as Kushina." Minato replied instantly. "Remember son, I was where you were a long time ago. I know all those things you're feeling."

Naruto looked down as his father reached out and poked at his chest, which of course left Minato dragging his finger up and flicking his son's nose.

"This whole mess was mine to begin with. It's gone left untouched for far too long. I _never_ wanted you working for them. That was the last thing I wanted."

"It isn't so bad." Naruto muttered, giving a little shrug.

"Iruka said you had the look." Minato informed him.

"What the hell is 'the look'?"

"Shock, awe, fear, confusion, happiness, anger, joy...little bit of everything really."

Naruto screwed up his face. "Dad, you're losing me."

"You fell in love." Minato whispered. "Then you left it for us."

"It's an unrequited love dad. It was better I left."

"Did he _say_ he felt nothing for you?" Minato asked, eyeing him.

"No..." Naruto muttered. "But dad, I couldn't risk it."

"You always risk everything on love." Minato said proudly.

"Dad, you have to understand. I would rather have my family back together than anything else. I couldn't chance screwing that up."

"And Naruto, son, _you_ have to understand. I already told you once you lie as bad as your mother."

"Are you saying I don't want the family back together?" Naruto snapped.

Minato laughed back at him. "No, of course not. But you wouldn't be my son if you let this kid go. Doesn't even matter if you know feelings are returned or not."

"Why's that?" Naruto asked skeptically.

"Come on..." He said as he bent down to unroll his pants. "Look at what I did with your mother. Tradition, Naruto. One you _really_ shouldn't break."

"You want me to go on the run?"

"Ah," Minato stood, one pant leg still rolled up. "No. Again, I'm here to help not only myself but you as well. Tradition stands with falling in love and not giving up on it. Really. No son of mine has ever given up on anything. Do you really want to go through life without knowing if he felt something for you or not?"

"I inherited that stubborn personality trait from you." Naruto informed. "No, wait. Both of you."

"And these dashing looks." Minato joked.

"So..." Naruto sighed, grinning at his dad as he took in his appearance. One shoe on, one shoe off, socks dangling out of his pockets and that one pant leg still rolled up. "When do we act?"

Minato paused for the briefest of moments before smiling at his son. "Right now."

"Ugh..." The younger groaned, smacking his forehead. "We are _so_ related."

* * *

"Little brother." Itachi sighed out. "I have to tell you, you've lost your mind. Heartbreak has driven you into madness. This is the third time this week I've seen you."

"I know." Sasuke muttered, leaning back in the chair.

"What is it this time, I wonder?"

A pause filled the room they were lingering in. Itachi stopped inspecting his nails to toss his brother a questionable look. His eyes were lost in a daze, his mind no doubt working overtime.

"I like my independence." Sasuke started. "From mother and father."

"I know."

"I wanted to prove to them that I could make it on my own. That I could still be great without their help. That they didn't have to be my crutch."

"You wanted to show them you were strong." Itachi muttered. "I remember."

"They hated the idea." Sasuke recalled. "Me being away in a menial living space, with a menial job and shooting for a menial career."

"Because they wanted you to grow up comfortable, Sasuke. They didn't want you to have to fight throughout your life. That's why they got so mad. They're your parents. By nature they want to help you and you didn't allow them. They felt betrayed in a way. That's why they got so mad."

"For the first time in my life, Itachi...I'm fighting for something."

"And?"

"I need your help." Sasuke breathed out.

"I foresee blackmail in your future." Itachi informed him.

"I need you to help me talk to mother and father. I _need_ to get Naruto back."

Itachi smirked and kicked off the wall, muttering under his breath as he walked out of the room to put on his shoes.

"About time."

* * *

Author's Notes: Short length, but it was either that, or it was going to be far too long (even for my standards).  
Sorry as well for the music abuse in this fic. I've always wanted to do a music based fiction and I guess this was me trying to get it out of my system.


	17. By the Second

Chapter Seventeen: By the Second

Author's Notes: Sorry I took so long! I've barely been on my computer, and this rest of the week is kinda crazy. So, as such, I wanted to post this while I was on the computer.

Warnings/Disclaimer: Been said, been done, and so on and so forth.

Chapter Seventeen: By the Second

* * *

"Dad!" Naruto called, jogging to keep up with his excited pace. "Don't you think we _shouldn't_ just burst into the building?"

"What fun would it be otherwise?" Minato called over his shoulder.

"It's bad enough you drove three hours to get here, could you not have thought this over the entire time?"

"Of course not!"

"Wait!" Naruto hollered.

Minato stopped, turning just in time for his son to come plowing into them and causing the two of them to stumble.  
The younger caught his breath and took a step back from his father, his face written with worry. "Dad, please don't do something stupid because of me. Please. I can handle this."

Minato frowned and ruffled his sons' hair. "No, son, you can't. Your mother and I wanted you to leave to become happier, not miserable. So we had to do the last thing on earth we wanted to do."  
"Please tell me you aren't planning to kill someone."

Minato gave his son a funny look and then shook his head. "No, Naruto. We asked for help."

"What?" The younger asked, clearly confused.

"Son, your mother and I wanted to figure this out on our own. It isn't fair to drag other people into your own personal mess. Once Kakashi told us you refused to quit in order to help us, we decided to do whatever it was necessary to get this done. Well...I did. She doesn't know what I'm doing. She's still trying to concoct a plan actually..."

Nartuo groaned, trying to think of another way to stop his father aside something that involved physical pain or death. He followed him into the building once he realize that probably wouldn't stop him either.

Minato waved wildly at the security guard who was sitting at the main desk reading the newspaper before he gawked at the two blonds passing by with speed. Every wanted ex-employee's face was plastered around security guards so they never forgot them. They never really expected one to waltz into the building without a care.

The two blonds kept up their speedy walk, the security guard now screaming after them and stumbling from around his desk. Minato broke into a run and Naruto immediately followed his lead as they bolted for the stairs. It didn't take long for Naruto to realize his dad was going to the guys who ran everything. He figured if you wanted something solved, go to the source. But risk everything in the process? Only his family.

They took the stairs two at a time and climbed as fast as their feet would carry them. They heard the security guard behind them as he pounded up the steps.  
Naruto would admit he was struggling to keep up with his father as they continued running at full speed. He remembered hearing things about how fast his father was in high school, but he never thought it carried on so long.

His father made a sharp right through a door with Naruto trying his best to follow. They soon found themselves on the top floor. The floor that held the bosses.  
Minato made for two fancy double doors, blazing past a secretary screaming after them. He bust through the doors to find himself in a large meeting room with a large oval table full of businessmen.

"Gentlemen!" Minato greeted with open arms, his chest heaving. "It's been so long."

"You!"

Minato smiled at the older man that stood up and pointed an accusing finger. "I thought you would remember my name after all the grief you've caused me."

"Caused _you_?" The man shot back incredulously. "All the money you cost _us_, what about that?"

"Completely taken care of." He said with an assuring wave of his hands. Naruto looked at him like he had been dropped on his head.

"Oh really?" Another man asked, straightening his expensive looking tie as he stood. "I'd love to see all the money you have suddenly found."

"Ah!" Minato held up a finger for waiting and dug his hand in his back pocket. "I brought a copy of my contract. Some fine print that I wasn't aware of was brought to my attention by a worker you have here."

The elder blond fished the crinkled aged paper and cleared his throat just as the security guard finally burst through the door, running out of breath and sweating. Naruto moved closer towards his father's side while the company leaders told the security guard to stand down.

As if he was going to do something.

Minato cleared his throat to grab everyone's attention once more.

"Reading from the contract here:  
If the contractee is unavailable or not present during time of contract renewal, the contract then becomes null and void due to circumstantial fraud. As such, the client is eligible to erase any charges pressed against him/her during their time of this absence. As well as, by company rules, the company mustn't take the client to court by law of our company secrecy and exclusiveness. Any funds that are unpaid before the time of the now invalid contract can be paid at the clients pace."

Minato tossed the paper to let it flutter down on the table in front of him. "So, as such, I hate to break it to you guys. The only bit of money I owed the company has been generously paid off here by my wonderful son. My wonderful son, who just so happen to bring in his father, which then makes _his_ contract void at his request."

Their eyes shifted to the younger blond, and Naruto smiled. "Well I quit, obviously."

"Good!" Minato hollered. He ignored the old men who were now gathered around his contract, gawking and whispering harshly.

They had been had.

"It has been fun gentlemen, most certainly an adventure for the ages, but I hereby retire. Try not to miss me too much, yeah?"

"Officer! Escort him off the premises!" One old man barked in fury.

The security guard, who was still desperately trying to get his air back, groaned in a low painful way before following the two blonds out of the room.

"That's it?" Naruto whispered, minding the security guard who was dragging himself behind the two of them.

"What do you mean?"

"I _mean_, that's all it took? Why in the fuck didn't you do this sooner?" Naruto snapped in a harsh tone.

"Your mother and I wanted to figure it out and pay this all off on our own. Once we had to lose you, we slowly started to ask for help. Once we learned about you working for them – after I convinced your mother murder wasn't the answer – we started working with other people."

"You two have too much damn pride." Naruto muttered darkly. "You should have asked for help."

"Our mess, our thing to clean. It was no ones burden but our own. Until we realized we could save more than ourselves. Not to mention it took awhile to get the fake contracts done with some help here at the company. The new ones and replacing the old ones. Lots of work."

Naruto ignored the security guard who was wheezing far behind them now, now doubt falling behind even more. "Meaning?"

"It's very selfish to just help yourself and leave everyone else in the dust. We were able to make some allies along the way and free a few more chains."

"What? Iruka and Kakashi are done?"

"Of course." He whispered. "Came up with a wonderful plan to not only get our family off the hook, but to get him and Kakashi out of here as well. As well as a few more people who were helping us. Not to mention help is costly in this company. Just not nearly as costly as when I owed."

"Seriously?"

"Dead serious." Minato smiled as he pushed open the doors to the building and let out a loud, random yell of freedom. They didn't notice the security guard who fell to the floor as the doors slammed behind them.

"What's Iruka doing for him and Kakashi?"

Minato grinned. "Iruka's going to make a big scene. Something about how it wasn't his fault and he's looking bad. You know? The guys who helped him with the contracts are in on it too. They're going to blame each other. Then, go on and on about if the others aren't fired they'll quit. Then they'll all quit. Wonderfully enough, Kakashi's contract has suddenly come to an end. That way all of us involved will be out of there before they realize all that fraud we just passed under their noses. All the proof of it being done will be gone, and thus, we win."

"So that's it?" Naruto asked, shoving his hands into his pockets, trying to grasp on to his relief.

"Of course not."

"Now what?"

"We go to your mother."

* * *

  
Itachi glanced at his brother, his hands coolly tucked in his pockets. "Last chance."

Sasuke didn't turn away from the door and simply shrugged. "No."

The door creaked open, a woman holding open the door and staring at Sasuke. She hesitated with her words for a moment before gesturing. "Come in, boys."

The two stepped inside one after the other; slipping off their shoes and hanging up their coats, they followed their mother silently through the house towards the dining room where his parents were just sitting down to eat.

Mikoto motioned towards two chairs before walking off to the kitchen to try to turn a meal for two into one for four people. Fugaku, Sasuke's and Itachi's father looked up from his papers that were in a small pile in front of him. Itachi gave a small wave, uncharacteristically happy at the thought of his brother being a moron and the torture he was putting himself through.

"This is rather unexpected." Fugaku observed.

"We just came to have a little chat is all." Itachi explained.

"Well, please don't keep us in suspense. It's been awhile since my youngest son has even considered stepping foot in our house." Fugaku replied just as Mikoto came back in the room. If they were all that hungry they'd go out for food.

"I came to ask for your help." Sasuke informed him.

"And why should we?" Fugaku asked. "You practically disowned _us_ because we didn't want to side with your wants and didn't agree with the things you were going to do."

"Because I'll do anything you want me to do if you help me. I'll give up everything." Sasuke muttered.

"What's so important?" Mikoto asked tenderly. "You never give up on what you love."

"That's why I'm here."

Fugaku and Mikoto glanced at Itachi who leaned forward and put his elbows on the table despite the rules. "Our little Sasuke has fallen in love. A complex love, I might add. Tried to fight it the entire time. The idiot."

Sasuke turned and glared at his older brother at the last add-on that came out almost silently.

"And just who is this supposed love interest?" Fugaku asked almost skeptically.

"A bigger idiot than Sasuke." Itachi replied quickly. "I honestly didn't think it was possible, but he proved me wrong."

"He?" Mikoto asked quickly.

"He's blond." Itachi informed them. "I try to blame that for his stupidity, but it might just be the fact he was around Sasuke for so long that he became so dense."

"If you help me..." Sasuke muttered, sighing and cutting off his older brother, ready to get to the point. "I promise to go to a better college, the one you two chose for me. I promise I will study medicine, just as you all wanted. I'll move closer into better living conditions, just as you all wished for me. I will do any and everything you ask of me if you help me with this."

"You really are in love." Mikoto said with a smile. "My little boy."

"With another man?" Fugaku asked with an edge to his voice.

"Yes." Sasuke replied sternly.

Mikoto turned to give her husband a fierce look. She had the chance to get her little boy back into her life and she would be damned if he screwed that up for her.

"You can get used to it." She said suddenly. "Sasuke is going to be following the path you wanted him to travel, and as thanks, you can accept his lifestyle."

"Fair is fair, father." Itachi said with a smirk.

They all knew that Fugaku was the man of the house, but Mikoto was a woman who could get her way when it came to her children. Fugaku, no matter how strong or fierce, could be completely powerless against his wife sometimes.

Such as now.

"I need time alone with my son."

Itachi and Mikoto left without a word, and for a second, Sasuke thought about turning and pleading for his brother not to leave him alone with a bigger psychopath than him.

"How, may I ask, do you need our help _getting_ this young man?"

With giving up hope in his chances on the entire thing, and figuring his father was disgusted enough with him already, Sasuke dove into an explanation. He never looked at him once as he explained the weird gag gift from his friends and his very willing brother. The fact they said it was for his birthday just so they had an excuse. He explain how he got Naruto and how he hated him. How he contemplated murder and justified every bit of his rude behavior. He talked about how Naruto was different. How he could make Sasuke smile and laugh and open up; unlike anyone else he had ever met.

He talked about how Naruto liked Sasuke for who he was, as bad as it could be sometimes. How Naruto drove him crazy throughout the entire time. He explained the rules how he could buy him back if he could find him, he just couldn't tell the company about his feelings. Sasuke explained he was willing to risk everything on a feeling that might not be returned. From beginning to end, minus a few embarrassing details, he told his father – for the first time in his life – everything.

Fugaku sighed, leaning forward and placing his elbows on the table and lacing his fingers together and resting them on the hard surface. He was silent for a few moments after Sasuke finished his story and kept his face as impassive as usual.

"Are you honestly willing to throw away your happiness for this young man?"

Sasuke hesitated in his answer. It wasn't the fact that he had to search for the right one, but he wasn't sure how his father would react. He had enough shock in one day learning his son was in love with another man.

"Father...there wouldn't be happiness otherwise."

Fugaku grunted, leaning back into his seat. "You really are in love."

Sasuke turned his face sharply to give him a questionable look.

"I felt the same way when I met your mother." Fugaku said honestly. "I was ready to give up everything I had, all my life opportunities, just to be with her."

Sasuke fell into silence at the sheer shock his father was being open and free with him. It was so rare it was nearly impossible.

"My father told me that love is uncontrollable and he couldn't fault me for something like that. At the time, I thought I understood, but I realized up until now I hadn't. You can't control who you fall in love with, be it a man or woman. I couldn't try to take that away from you or try to control it. It makes me imagine life without your mother and that pain is nearly unbearable. I have to respect the fact that not only did you swallow your pride and come to your mother and I, but you put everything on the line for this young man. I'm very proud of you, Sasuke."

"What?" He croaked out.

"You proved to me that you're a man. You can make your own decisions, make it on your own, and live life the way you wanted. You didn't lie to us, steal from us, or rely on us this whole time. You came here and put your faith in your mother and I that we would still stand beside you, and I respect that. I'm not exactly comfortable with the thought of two men together, but...I suppose I'll just have to adjust. Otherwise your mother might kill me..."

"Are you drunk?" Sasuke asked, unable to help it.

Fugaku smirked and stood from the table. "Let's go Sasuke. Love is something you don't want to let get away. Time, I'm afraid to say, is ticking away."

"We're leaving now?"

"Yes. To wherever it is south we have to go, that's where you explained this headquarters place is. Now let's move before they shut the airport down due to the snow. I suppose from that place we'll get to this Naruto."

"Father." Sasuke stood from his chair, confusion painting his face. "I don't...you and...this is weird."

Fugaku spared a chuckle and let a small smirk grace his usually impassive face. "You're my son Sasuke. My youngest son. I would do anything for my family, even if that means flying clear down the coast and chasing some moron who thought of just letting you go."

As Sasuke watched his father march out of the room, he couldn't help but feel that this was going down in history as the weirdest experience of his entire life.

* * *

Naruto would easily admit that as he walked towards the front door of the house of his parents, another house he was unfamiliar with, that he was petrified. Even though for the entire three hour ride he attempted to prepare himself. Despite the letter telling him that indeed his parents still loved him, and his father proving as such, he was still scared to face his mother.

It seemed like an eternity had passed since he had last seen her.

His hopes had soared at the thought of the three of them being back together after the letter he received, but another part of his mind was telling him it could have been a ruse to get him to quit the company.

Kushina had burst into tears once she saw Naruto.

The blond couldn't recall how long they stood there holding each other while she cried and apologized. Minato hadn't even had a chance to tell her the wonderful news since she was so wrapped up in getting her baby boy back.

They finally got her to sit on the couch, her hand locked around Naruto's in a death grip, refusing to let go.

Minato had grabbed them all sodas and sat across from his loving wife and his precious son. For the first time in a long time, he smiled a cheek aching smile that lit the room.

"I didn't want to worry you." He started, popping the top to the can. "But I couldn't stand the thought of you and Naruto being miserable one second longer."

Kushina nodded barely, squeezing Naruto's hand as if it were her lifeline.

"I've been secretly meeting up with Iruka, coming up with a plan to help us all. It was indeed risky. It could have landed us all in prison."

Her eyes grew wide. "Please don't tell me you were planning to murder someone. You already talked me out of it!"

Naruto and Minato both began to laugh, the two of them both doubling over and Minato almost falling out of his seat.

"No." He promised, wiping a stray tear from his eye. "Fraud. Lots of it."

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat before reaching her other hand across the small space and placing it on Minato's knee. He covered her hand with his own and smiled.

"Cold contracts and runners are put with other people in a separate part of the building. Iruka handles live contracts, like Naruto's."

She turned and gave her son a nasty look that had him sinking back into the couch in fear.

"So Iruka tapped into his nearly nonexistent sneaky side, and stole my contract. A few good friends of his works on live contracts as well. So a good chunk of money and some planning, they took Naruto's contract and Kakashi's. Long story short, Iruka and his friends are going to blame each other and then quit when they 'realize' how bad that incident made them look. A bunch of contracts messed up in a blink of an eye. Even though the signatures were all fake, the contract looked completely real. So..."

"We're done?" She asked lightly.

"I still can't believe you didn't do this sooner?" Naruto asked with a slightly bitter tone.

"Son," Minato started sternly. "Look at the risks! This was our _last_ option. Once that we didn't want to rely on, but once we found out about you working for Create A Dream, we had to do what was needed. Prison be damned. The fact we could help more people in the process was simply a bonus. Iruka hoped that by giving you mom's letter you'd leave, but when he told me everything else..."

"What would that be?" Kushina asked in a dangerous tone.

"That you had fallen in love..." Minato said softly. "That you were going to give all of that up and move on to another client and continue in misery just for us. I told him we needed to act immediately.  
The risks were _great_. Iruka, Kakashi, and myself were put on the line as well as all those other workers. My marriage with your mother and the risk of being taken away from her. Many things. You might not understand now, but later in life, you will."

"Wait a second." Kushina said, interrupting the important moment. "You're in love?"

"It's complicated." Naruto muttered.

"He thinks Sasuke doesn't love him back. That's why he just wanted to move on to help us."

"No, I wanted to move on to help you guys because you're my family. I couldn't risk a possibility that he _might_ feel something for me as well and lose you guys."

"So you're in love?" Kushina asked again.

"Yes, mom." Naruto sighed. "Can't we drop it?"

"Absolutely not!" She almost yelled. "Where does he live?"

"He lives up north." Minato supplied.

"Well then..." She said with a smile and a clap of her hands. "What are we waiting for?"

"Excuse me?" Minato and Naruto asked together.

"I not only just got my life back, but my son back. I'll be damned if my boy isn't happy. What a better way to celebrate our family reunion than with a family vacation?"

Naruto sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Right, I almost forgot. Act first, think later."

* * *

"Itachi, dare I ask how you know where you're going?" Sasuke asked from the passenger seat of the rental car.

"Kakashi is a rather amusing man, don't you think?" His elder brother asked coyly.

"Who's Kakashi?" Mikoto asked from the back seat, thwacking her eldest son as he swerved dangerously through traffic.

"A jackass." Sasuke supplied quickly.

"Language, young man." Fugaku retorted.

"He's a wonderful man. He's Naruto zoo keeper."

"Manager." Sasuke said with a sigh.

"Yes, anyway..." Itachi said in a monotone, though Sasuke swore it was his brother trying to sound merry. "Kakashi had told me long ago when we first plotted against you."

"Of course." Sasuke sighed.

"I told him it would be smart in case you decided to try and kill us all including the merchandise. I figured I'd throw Kiba in your destructive path and come report you."

"You wouldn't think to go to the police?" Sasuke questioned with a sarcastic tone.

"Never." Itachi shrugged. "No fun going to the source of the killjoy. I'd rather drag it out to get the fullest satisfaction of your aggression and aggravation."

"Only you can make annoying me sound so sophisticated, Itachi."

"It's a talent, really. Older brother thing, mind you, but I do believe I'm the best at it."

"Boys, could you stop the mindless prattle and park the car?" Fugaku asked in a growl.

Itachi finished his circling the parking lot for the closest spot possible to the towering building and simply pulled into the first one he almost passed again. For the third time.  
The four of them exited the car and clustered around the back, coming together for some sort of spontaneous sort of meeting.

"Alright, now what?" Sasuke asked, somewhat irritably.

"We didn't just spend eight hours doing nothing." Mikoto instantly started up.

"I do believe mother is insinuating you act like you have a brain and go in there and do what is needed to get Naruto. Save for murder. Far too much paperwork."

Sasuke turned his glare towards his older brother before he dropped the look and glanced at his parents. The past eight hours had been the most unsettling hours of his life. Not only did his parents go along with the fact he was in love with another man, but one that was paid to be with him in the first place. For _his_ parents – Uchiha's no less – to accept this like an everyday occurrence freaked him the hell out. He was standing on edge waiting for the second his father would snap out of it and then break his neck.

"You're brother is right." Fugaku said. "And make it fast. I fear your mother will explode if she doesn't meet the boy who brought her son back to us."

Sasuke couldn't help but smirk at the look his mother had given his father.

"Before I go in there..." Sasuke breathed out. "I need to make _absolutely_ sure you are all okay with this. The fact that you so readily went along with it and accepted it is still..."

"Freaky." Itachi muttered.

"Unorthodox, I do admit." Fugaku said. "But we have our son back."

"You're only accepting this so I don't leave again?" Sasuke asked skeptically.

"No!" Mikoto said immediately. "We're accepting this because we love you. We're doing all of this because we're happy to have you back. And any person who is dumb enough to leave _my_ son is subject to Uchiha questioning and psychiatric evaluation."

"I agree." Itachi sighed. "Anyone crazy enough to even think about spending more than five minutes with you is indeed someone worthy of this family. Not to mention he can actually make you happy. Dare I say that nearly impossible act is good enough for this little endeavor."

"So...you're doing this because you want me to be happy?"

"For my son..." Fugaku sighed, "You're thick headed. We might be strict son, but you're happiness is a key priority. Now hurry up, it's damn hot."

Sasuke and Itachi snorted just as their mother giggled. Leave it to an Uchiha to bitch during a serious bonding moment worthy of blackmail.

The new security guard on duty was doing the secretary's work while she was at lunch early. So despite having been called in to work due to another security member passing out, he was happy he didn't have to do patrol. He figured working the front desk would be a breeze.

That was until Sasuke Uchiha's icy cold glare was fixing him with a look of death.

"How may I help you, sir?"

"I need to speak to a worker of yours. He's a Charmer." Sasuke said, getting straight to the point.

"I'm sorry sir, but what is it that you need to speak with him or her about?"

"Business." Sasuke clipped. "Unsettled business."

Thinking Sasuke was talking somewhere along the lines of dollar signs and nothing short of, he settled his fingers on the keyboard. Despite ignoring regulation and running Sasuke's ID and insuring he knew about the company's secrecy policy, he skipped to the business at hand.

"Name?"

"Naruto Uzumaki."

Fingers flew across the keyboard and the computer whirred with life and struggle. The screen went through several pages before landing on one that Sasuke just caught sight of blinking.

"I'm sorry sir, but it seems Charmer Naruto Uzumaki has been let go from the company."

"Let go?" Sasuke questioned, not believing what he heard.

"Yes sir, I'm sorry for this inconvenience. Any unsettled business can be settled with contracting."

"What about his manager?"

The security guards eyes went back to the screen and then flicked back to Sasuke. "Looks like he was let go as well."

"What?"

Sinking back in his chair at the tone, the guard tried one last attempt to save his life. "Look kid, Kakashi hasn't left yet. He just went whistling towards his office to clean out. Go here and look for the  
Hatake name plate."

Sasuke glanced at the map that was sealed on the counter and traced a path with his eyes before taking off. The older man was the last person on the face of the planet he wanted to see, but if it meant answers or clues, he'd chance the headache.

He rounded a corner and passed a group of men clustered together whispering before turning the corner where Kakashi's was supposed to be located. Just as luck decided to come towards his side for the first time, the grayed man was just shutting the door to his old office with a box of clutter balanced in one hand.

Ignoring the obnoxiously happy tune that he was whistling, he walked up to him with a face filled with stubbornness, determination and murder.

"Well my, my, my; my little dark cloud of hell has decided to grace me with his presence on this fine day."

"Trust me, I'm just as excited to see you." Sasuke insisted.

"Then what may I help you with?"

"Naruto."

An eyebrow quirked up in question, "Come again?"

"I need to talk to the moron." He replied. "How in the hell did he get fired?"

Kakashi gave him a funny look. "No, Naruto quit. They're supposed to say he was fired so their reputation doesn't get tarnished. As if it isn't bad enough they're selling sex."

"So he quit." The raven sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Yes."

"Figures."

"What would that be?" Kakashi asked, adjusting the box he was carrying under his arm.

"That he was lying to get out of the job, that he figured out...nothing." Sasuke sighed.

Kakashi studied his face for a moment before smiling, shaking his head a little. He repressed the chuckle before smacking his forehead lightly. How could he have missed that look? He had an inkling, but he never thought it had gotten that far.

"I'd get home if I were you Sasuke." Kakashi chuckled. "Catch the first flight you can."

"Why?" He bit, irritated and feeling foolish.

"Because both you and Naruto are idiots."

With that, Kakashi walked off humming a merry tune with his box of his desk contents, leaving Sasuke confused and irritated beyond belief.

* * *

Author's Notes: YAY! A few more chapters and we're done.


	18. Pass Me By

Chapter Eighteen: Pass Me By

Author's Notes: Throw the stones! But remember! You kill the author you kill the stories.  
Let's just get on with it, yeah?

Warnings/Disclaimer: Done and Done!

Chapter Eighteen: Pass Me By

December 19th (still...)-

* * *

Naruto looked up at the tall and very familiar apartment complex building. He smiled as his breath ghosted into the air above him, showing in the light of the street lamps. The night air was far chillier than the day that was warmed with sunlight. He heard his parents shivering behind him and turned to check on them.

"You guys okay?"

Minato and Kushina both were bundled, wrapped and covered from head to toe. Both sporting warm boots, two pairs of gloves and coats that looked like giant marshmallows; Naruto really couldn't figure out how they were still cold.

He adjusted his mother's earmuffs and smiled. "I told you on the plane this was a bad idea."

She smiled, her teeth chattering. "For a completely different reason. And I told you, I'll beat him if-"

"Mom!" Naruto groaned. "You can't beat love into somebody."

"Oh..." Minato snorted. "Son, apparently you've never met your mother and I."

The younger blond gave his father an annoyed look and Minato threw up his hands in surrender. "Sorry, alright, we already swore to no abuse. But look, son, could you get a bit of a move on here. I can't feel my face."

The blond bristled. "This isn't exactly easy dad."

"What are you scared of?" His mother asked tenderly.

Naruto shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh, I don't know. Rejection, heartbreak, sadness, depression, loneliness...you know, small stuff."

Kushina gave him a loving look and reached forward to rub at his arms. "Sweetheart, if its _true_ love, then you have nothing to worry about."

"And if it's not?" Naruto asked, slightly confused.

She sighed. "Then he isn't worth it."

For some reason that sentence stung Naruto. Somewhere deep in his chest it hit him hard. He knew Sasuke was worth it. From the first moment he found himself at his front door, putting himself in Sasuke's hands in hopes to save his family; he knew he was worth it.

The minute Naruto fell in love with him, nothing could persuade him to say otherwise.

He would be just as stubborn as Sasuke to get Sasuke if he had to be.

He knew flat out that life from here on out would be pointless without him in it. He felt it. They were meant to be together, or Naruto was meant to chase him forever. Either way, right here and now, he knew he was not giving up on this love.

"Alright." Naruto sighed out. "Even if I have to settle and just call him a friend, I'm not letting him out of my life."

"That's the spirit." Minato urged, freezing to the bone.

"Don't you _dare_ settle Naruto." Kushina cut in. "If you love someone, don't settle. You hear me?"

"Yes mom." Naruto grinned.

His parents never settled. They fought for what they wanted against all odds, and did anything in their power to keep it that way. They did what they needed to do to make sure their family was going to be okay. Sacrifices had to be made, but they never settled.

"If you settle, you won't be happy." Naruto replied gently.

She smiled and patted his rosy, cold cheek. "That's my boy. Now move it, I think I lost my nose."

Naruto let out a shaky laugh as he turned back towards the building. He walked through the doorway and headed up the cold stairwell. It felt like the trip up the stairs took longer than it should have. Like there were more flights than Naruto remembered.

He turned towards the door, a reef decorating the front of it and immediately knew it wasn't Sasuke's doing.

The blond raised his hand to knock, his heart hammering in his chest. He kept trying to calm his thoughts by pondering who in the world would have put it there.

The door swung open just as his fist was about to drop on it, both of them nearly jumping out of their skin.

"Kiba!" Naruto gasped, grasping at his chest.

"Dude, I thought you left?" Kiba asked excitedly. "No one would tell me shit! Good to see you back!"

Naruto's weak knees almost buckled under the friendly slap on the shoulder.

The blond laughed as he was dragged inside the apartment with a friendly tug, his heart fluttering when he realized he was indeed back.

"This is perfect!" Kiba smiled. "I thought I was going to be by myself."

"By yourself?" Naruto asked quickly, his eyes flying around the apartment.

"Yeah. I figured Sasuke went to visit you or something. Shikamaru went somewhere with Temari, I'm watching their place."

"Oh." Naruto voice faltered, but he picked himself back up. "Did, uh, did Sasuke say he was going to see me?"

Kiba shook his head. "No. You and him just left so suddenly, I just sort of figured. Must have been wrong. He probably went to his brother's or something."

Naruto tried to shrug it off. "Yeah."

"So how long you here for? I'm sure Sasuke will be back eventually. Couple of days or something." Kiba asked with a smile.

The blond rubbed at his face with his hand, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Uh, I was just dropping by on the random with my parents, I didn't come to see Sasuke or anyone in particular. Just sayin' hey while I was in the city."

Kiba's face somewhat dropped. "Oh, too bad. I was decorating for the Christmas party."

"You guys have a Christmas party?" Naruto asked, a little shocked. Sasuke and Shikamaru seemed the two most likely people to avoid parties at all cost.

"Sasuke usually bails out and hides out somewhere. But Shikamaru actually gets in the spirit."

He tried to picture Shikamaru in a Christmas sweater and decorating a tree and felt confused.

"So you think Sasuke is just hiding out?" Naruto asked, trying to sound casual.

Kiba shrugged. "Last I heard, Shikamaru said he had gone to his parents house. So I really don't know. I figured Shikamaru had misunderstood something."

"His parents?" Naruto questioned. "I thought..."

"Yeah, me too. Things change I guess." Kiba said nonchalantly.

Naruto let out a small laugh. "He's moving right along, isn't he?"

"Yeah, since you left he's been doing really great! He's been working more and even finished all his holiday assignments. Shikamaru and him have been playing music together a lot too."

"Oh..." Naruto trailed off, a heavy weight settling in his stomach. "Uh, well...I better get out of here. You have to get back to decorating and I have this thing I'm heading to."

"Alright." Kiba frowned. "You sure you can't stay longer?"

The blond shook his head. "No. I really do have to get going."

"Alright then..." The brunette held open the door as Naruto walked out the doorway.

"See you again, yeah?" Kiba called after him as Naruto walked down the hall towards the stairs.

The blond waved over his shoulder. "Yeah...totally."

But even Kiba, as thick as he could be, knew the blond was lying through his teeth. He shut the door to the empty apartment, giving Naruto the signal to run down the stairs to attempt to get the hell  
out of dodge.

The blond rushed down the stairs, gripping the railing in fear he would tumble. He pushed roughly against the door and jumped down the concrete stoop of the apartment building. He only stopped when his feet were firmly planted on the sidewalk, his hands now gripping his knees.

His breath ghosted around his face in huffs, his chest heaving. He wasn't sure if it was in panic, fear, or the running. He completely forgot he had his parents with him till a hand fell gently on his  
shoulder.

He snapped up and stumbled slightly, finding his mother's concerned face staring him down.

His jaw tightened and he looked away, mumbling towards the ground. "Where's dad?"

"He went to ask some stranger where he got his shirt." Kushina said lightly. "What happened? Where's Sasuke?"

Naruto shook his head and barely shrugged. "When is dad coming back?"

Kushina's eyes searched her son's face worriedly. She instantly knew what Naruto came here for wasn't what he had gotten.

"Your father is just down at the end of the block. I'll hail a cab while you go get him, okay?"

The blond nodded, turning away from his mother and ducking his head as he walked quickly down the sidewalk. Kushina watched her son walk off with sad eyes. She wouldn't push it yet, but later, she'd ask what happened. As a mother, she just couldn't understand who wouldn't love her son.

She turned back towards the busy road and raised her hand with a whistle just as a yellow cab pulled up at a curb. She stepped back slightly and looked down the road for her husband and son just as the back door and passenger door opened.

She stepped out of the way of the people who climbed out, no doubt a family. All of them had the same dark hair and dark eyes. A mother and a father and their two sons. She smiled and gave a polite nod to the mother who had given her a curious look. Kushina passed it off for the dozen layers of clothes.

The family walked off towards the building in silence, following no doubt, the youngest son. She watched them disappear up the stairs and smiled. Any family she saw now gave her a warm feeling in  
her stomach knowing she had hers back together once more.

She turned just in time to see Naruto and his father walking up side by side. The younger of the two still had his head tucked, and Minato had his arm thrown over his shoulders.  
With a warm smile she greeted the two most important men in her life, and quietly they climbed into the cab and set their destination as the airport.

"As fast as possible." Naruto muttered.

* * *

"I'll just grab a bag of clothes and then we'll take my car to your house." Sasuke said hollowly.

"Are you sure it's alright to come to our house for Christmas?" His mother questioned, the one who originally asked. "I don't want you to feel forced after what we did for you."

"No, it will be fine." Sasuke insisted as they climbed the stairs.

"What about work?" Fugaku asked sternly.

"Tsunade will be happy to not see me for a week." Sasuke assured them. "She's sick of my overtime."

Fugaku and Mikoto shared a shocked look. They had no idea their son had such a work ethic. They figured with a waiting job he would have simple hours along with the simple pay. They had no idea he worked so hard.

"You know, Sasuke..." Mikoto said as they stepped up to his apartment door. "I'm impressed with how hard you've been working. With school and your job."

"But it isn't good enough, I know." Sasuke sighed out, waiting for the usual speech.

"No." Fugaku interrupted. "I think this entire situation has taught your mother and I a lesson we surely refuse to repeat."

Mikoto nodded. "Just because you chose a path that we don't want, doesn't mean that path isn't right for you."

Itachi smirked, standing behind his parents. "Ah, family bonding moment."

Sasuke glared at his older brother with a nasty look, only being wiped clean when his mother grabbed his ear.

"You two are going to be staying under the same roof again for more than an hour, you two will be getting along."

"Yes ma'am." Sasuke muttered, his ear being released from the clutch of her fingers. "Now get your bag packed and meet us at the garage."

Itachi sighed. "Oh, family moments. I've missed them."

Fugaku turned to glare at his oldest son. "Move it."

"We'll be waiting." Mikoto said once more. "Take your time."

Sasuke turned and opened his door, knowing instantly Kiba wouldn't have locked it. When Shikamaru had texted Sasuke to tell him that their friend would be watching the apartment, Sasuke wasn't exactly thrilled. But as his mind was consumed with other things, he had slowly forgotten. Now that he saw all the Christmas decorations strewn about the apartment, he was suddenly annoyed again.  
He heard the shower running and with a sigh of relief he realized he could pack his bags in peace without Kiba following him around talking his head off over nothing.

He quickly went to his room and packed the first gym bag he found. He hovered for a moment over his guitar. He was wondering how far he could push his luck. As soon as he heard the shower cut off, he grabbed the strap without any more hesitation and quickly left the apartment.

Just as quickly, he tried to leave the memories behind has well.

Naruto left. There was no changing that. Kakashi had made it perfectly clear that he was indeed wasting his time. So for the sake of his sanity, he had to try and let go.

But how in the world could you let go of love?

* * *

Naruto sighed as he glanced out the window of the plane. He ignored the light snores that echoed around him. A red eye flight was the only thing they could catch after their long day. Naruto insisted they catch the first flight possible and get out of town. He wanted to run away as fast as possible from the hurt. He wasn't going to sleep as is. It was better to be on a plane, going towards home where he was safe and sound with his family. That was it, he reminded himself, he needed to focus on his family. How they were back together again. How they were a unit once more.

"Sweetheart."

Naruto looked over, tired blue eyes finding his mother's drowsy face. He smiled at her.

"I thought you were sleeping." He admitted.

She hummed. "Your father and his elbow strike again."

The blond chuckled lightly. "Get back to sleep. We only have an hour left on the flight. Someone has to drive us safely to the house."

She shrugged. "I can't sleep well anyway."

"Why?"

"Worried about my son."

Naruto sighed, glancing away before looking back at his mother. "I'll be fine mom."

"Which means you aren't fine now." She pointed out quickly.

"Mom..." Naruto whined quietly.

"Don't you give me that." She whispered. "What happened?"

He sighed lightly, knowing this conversation was going to come sooner or later. "He wasn't there. But, he's doing amazing without me. Working more, better in school, getting along with his family – the works. 'Not wanted' was plastered everywhere."

Kushina grabbed her sons hand. "Doesn't mean you aren't needed."

Naruto gave her a warm smile. "Ten cheesy points mom. Good job."

She giggled lightly. "So, what now? If you want to keep pursuing this..."

He shook his head, holding up his free hand to silence her. "Mom, there is no reason to pursue a bunch of heartache."

"But there is every reason to pursue love." She sighed. "But it is your decision."

* * *

Sasuke sighed, pushing open the door to the dark room. He hadn't stepped foot in here in years. His old room. Flicking on the light, he realized he wasn't the last person to come in. The place was immaculate, and surprisingly enough, it had been decorated to more his liking now. It had to have been his mother's doing. She was without a doubt, a mother. No matter how much she didn't like or approve of something Sasuke liked, she still stood behind him somewhere. There was a new looking desk in the corner, topped with books on teaching. There was a poster over his desk with instructions for guitar cords. There were two violins in the corner – both of them he knew were his old ones. She had framed his very first black belt that he had obviously left behind.

"I hope you don't mind." She said suddenly, almost making Sasuke jump.

He turned to look at her, still standing in the doorway. "What made you do all this?"

She shrugged. "It makes you happy, and your older brother is a nagging little thing."

Sasuke snorted. "Does dad know?"

"Of course not. I wanted to respect the both of you. I wasn't thrilled when you told me everything. Moving out, going to college to be a teacher...I always wanted so much more for you. But then, I remembered. I am your mother. A mother, above all else, just wants their child to be happy."

He gave her a tiny, soft smile. "Thank you."

"So now we have to make sure that continues." She said softly.

"By that you mean?" Sasuke grabbed at his guitar case a little, waiting for her to change her mind and snatch it away.

"What do you want to do now?" She asked gently. "We aren't letting you throw your life away. This stay is only temporary – but not the last I hope. I want you to continue to go to school and chase your dreams. I want you to keep doing things to make you happy. Which, as my stubborn son, I know you'll do that anyway. I want to know what you plan to do about Naruto."

Sasuke was silent for a minute, his eyes glancing at the poster above his new desk before he looked back at his mother.

"Nothing." He muttered. "All I can do is hope for his happiness. Even if it doesn't include me."

"Excuse me? I can't hear you Sasuke."

He shrugged, "It was nothing. I'm going to unpack and then I'll be down to eat."

She frowned as she watched her son close the door behind him, no doubt, closing the door on the subject of Naruto.

* * *

Naruto awoke with a start that early morning on the twentieth. For a second, confusion grasped him. He wondered where Sasuke's comfortable bed was, where the grumbles of Shikamaru had gone, where the sounds of coming and goings of their friends were. Then he remembered the talk with Kiba. Then he remembered the flight home. The long, seemingly impossible flight. He couldn't remember falling asleep, he had thought it impossible.

He vaguely remembered his father grumbling about someone being fat, and seeing as it seemed he had been unceremoniously dropped on the couch, he was guessing it was about him.  
He looked around the house and still found it asleep. The flight hadn't gotten in till late that very morning, so no doubt his parents were still sound asleep trying to make up for their impromptu trip.  
The sun was just now peaking over the horizon. Naruto could only imagine the limited amount of sleep he received.

He reached in his pocket where he could feel his phone, it was jamming into his thigh. He didn't remember ever turning it on once he got on the plane, but he figured it was some sort of fluke when his father was tossing him over his shoulder.

The bright screen glared at his weak eyes, and he glared right back. Three missed calls.

He wasn't in the mood at all for talking. Especially, to whom had called. Kakashi and Iruka. He cocked his head a little to the side when the third missed call was from a hidden number. He simply shrugged it off as a telemarketer. It wouldn't have been Sasuke, he barely mused. He was too busy living the life without him. Without even caring about him. Naruto was just a temporary thing aggravating him and nothing more. Sasuke was done with him.

Besides, who else would even think of calling him?

* * *

Sasuke was lying on his bed, gently smacking his cell phone against his forehead. He didn't know what in the hell he was thinking. Of course Naruto would probably still be asleep, snoring his head off.

He probably had no care in the world. He most likely didn't even want to talk to Sasuke, let alone think about him. Sasuke felt like he was being stupid. Just wanting to hear his voice? Maybe throw away his pride some more and ask him _why_? But, it was obviously pointless.

Naruto had indeed, given up on him.

* * *

Author's Note: Hello, hello and hello! Sorry it took so long to get this out, and it's like, a downer chapter. Next one should be the end (but we all know I can never make up my mind). Thoughts about an epi between now and next chapter are appreciated.


	19. The Typical Setup

Chapter Nineteen: The Typical Setup

Author's Notes: Please do note, this is going to be leaving you hanging at the very end. Please note I didn't mean to, but I hate having not updated in so long. My original plan is to update this after a week, but I don't know if it will be done or not.  
**IMPORTANT: ****LONG CHAPTER**  
(Next chapter should be just as long.)

Warnings/Disclaimer: You know, the usual. Me pissing you off, foul language, cliff hangers and OOCness galore. I still don't own Naruto or anything pertaining, but I'm working on it.

Chapter Nineteen: The Typical Setup

* * *

_Christmas Eve_

The week went by like a blur in the wind. Naruto spent the entire week with his parents. The went Christmas shopping for one. His parents had always been last minute shoppers, but this year they had Naruto to shop for again. They decorated the house; outside and in. Naruto strung candy cane shaped lights around the windows and Minato put fake candles in every one. Kushina put out all the decorations inside the house. The nativity scene, small cottage ceramics covered in fake snow, and the Santa's workshop from when Naruto was a baby. Minato dragged out their collection of Santa's while Naruto placed them randomly throughout the house. They had gotten a tree. Kushina enjoyed a cup of hot cocoa while watching her two favorite boys haul it in. The three of them decorated a tree for the first time in years.

It was Christmas Eve now in the early morning hours.

Naruto was sitting with his mom on the couch, watching Christmas specials. Minato always slept in longer than anyone.

"So..." Naruto elbowed his mom, almost causing her to spill her drink. "What did you get me?"

She turned to look at her son just as he gave her a few winks and a goofy smile. She rolled her eyes at him. "You'll find out tomorrow morning."

"Just a hint." He pushed.

He did this every year since he could talk. He could never stand waiting till the morning. Iruka always broke and so did Kushina.  
She passed off her hot cocoa and Naruto stole a marshmallow while he watched his mother. She unhooked an ornament off the tree and walked back to the couch. The blond let out a whine.

"You aren't supposed to get _that_ one. You'll ruin our tradition."

They had always hid presents from Naruto one way or another. It turned into a tradition every year to hide a small one in the tree, usually in an ornament that could open and close.  
She patted his cheek and stole back her mug, trading it for the white ornament painted with a Santa face. "There is still one on the tree. This is a secret gift Santa brought early."

Naruto chuckled. "I love how after all these years you still insist Santa brought me gifts."

She smiled at her son. "Just wait till I'm old and senile. I'll be insistent that I met him and rode in his sleigh."

He laughed as he opened the ball, an eyebrow lifting at the site of a simple folded up piece of paper.

Kushina growled. "Do look so thrilled."

The blond shrugged. "I'm used to the surprise of fifty bucks and two chocolate kisses."

His mother giggled, rolling her eyes. "I suppose I should have mixed it up a bit, huh?"

Naruto was unfolding the paper, his tan fingers holding the small square in his lap. He frowned a little.

Kushina put her hand on top of one of Naruto's.

"I know you aren't sure what to do anymore, sweetheart. I also know it hurts quite a bit. But you keep that trend alive of not giving up, you hear me. This is like a second chance card. Use it to chase him to the ends of the earth."

Naruto shook his head. "Mom, a place ticket to anywhere won't help. Nothing will help."

"If you just..." She wanted to insist, but Naruto cut her off.

"Mom, Sasuke is _happy_. More than anything, all I want is for him to be happy. Whether that is with or without me, that's all I want."

Kushina frowned when she heard her son's voice crack, hearing the sadness seep through it. He cleared his throat, sealing it up and pretending it wasn't there. She patted his hand, letting the subject go for now.

"Whatever you say, son." She raked her hand through his hair and patted his cheek. "Whatever you decide."

* * *

"Good morning to the thorn in my side." Itachi greeted in a dead tone, passing Sasuke in the hallway. The younger glared but kept his course. His hunger could rival Naruto's, he thought. The blond would probably get a kick out of watching him eat something bad for him. Sasuke sighed, turning the corner to the kitchen. Naruto had to be much happier now, and Sasuke had to be the farthest thing from his mind.

"Good morning, Sasuke." His mother greeted cheerfully. She had been in a good mood since the night Sasuke decided to stay for a short time. Every time she saw her baby boy, her face would light with a small smile, and she would greet him warmly. She had her seasonal apron on and she was both cooking breakfast and making Christmas cookies.

"French toast, pancakes, or waffles."

Sasuke walked up and leaned against the counter and shrugged. "Surprise me."

The smile on her face grew and she patted his cheek warmly. "Perfect."

Sasuke smirked as he watched his mother flow through the kitchen flawlessly. She was most likely going to make him a kid-like breakfast while his father wasn't home. She always babied her kids when her husband wasn't around. He always wanted to treat them like mature adults no matter the age, and she always wanted to treat them like her babies.

He took a seat at the bar just on the other side of the sink. He remembered many school days of himself and Itachi sitting there scarfing down breakfast before rushing off to school. Mikoto would make small talk about homework and after school activities. The only thing that seemed to change was the topic of conversation.

"We need to talk about it sooner or later, Sasuke."

His head connected with the counter roughly. Even though her back was to him, she knew what he did. Itachi had taught him that when he was a small child, thinking it was a funny joke. Now Sasuke habitually acted on it when he was overwhelmed.

He had been enjoying the fact that neither of his parents nor his brother had brought up Naruto. It was calming and relaxing. He was trying to mentally coach himself about letting go of Naruto. He was an impassive, heartless Uchiha. He could do this.

His mother always sent him concerned looks when she thought no one was looking. Indeed, up until this very moment he had dodged the conversation. Now she had him trapped.

"I just want to know what you plan to do. Surely you don't plan to give up already."

Sasuke shrugged, combing his hair with his hand. "I mean..."

"And I don't want stern, brash and unreasonable decision making like your father. Then you'll stick to something so stupid because you're just as stubborn. You men..."

Sasuke cracked the tiniest of smiles. It was rare to hear his mother complain or rant. When she did though, she always managed to slip in a punch to his father.

"Mother." He sighed out. "I just...I just want him to live his life."

She turned to look at him, her fork whisking the batter in the bowl. "You want him to be happy."

He pursed his lips. Never one for expressing himself, his mother had become a professional at decoding.

"I don't want to ruin it for him." He sighed out, turning to let his eyes land on the open window.

Their house always had a view overlooking the city. He remembered many a time sitting at that very spot wishing to be in there. Now he wanted nothing more to be far away from his tiny apartment full of memories.

They were painful, though he refused to admit that out loud.

"Well..." His mother sighed. "I want nothing more for you, my son, to be happy. So if that means chasing this young man around the world, or you sitting in this lovely kitchen eating food you don't really want; either way I'll stick behind you."

He gave her a nod of thanks, but she had to get her last word in.

"But just remember Sasuke. Your happiness is just as important, and it will never be complete without him."

* * *

Naruto glared Kakashi down hard.

He thought maybe with a little luck and some wishful thinking, his amazing mind powers would cause him to implode and all will be forgiven. But no. Instead he had Kakashi smiling at him brightly with a tray of tea and cookies.

"Hello my little rubber ducky." Kakashi set the tray down on the coffee table and took a seat across from Naruto. "Now, why am I so lucky as to be seeing you on this fine Christmas Eve?"

The blond rolled his eyes and took the tea, his eyes searching the room for Kakashi's missing half. "My parents are going shopping. You know them and the 'thrill' of the last minute craze. And  
surprises..."

Kakashi smiled fondly in his cup. "Yes, of course. How could I forget. It seems every year your father manages to get injured by some crazed shopper. I should prepare the ice packs now..."

Naruto watched the false distant look on the older man's face and slammed down his cup. "Oh for crying out loud, let it out."

Kakashi's eyes focused on the young blond sitting in front of him. "You dirty little thing, that's reserved for my Iruka."

Naruto smacked his forehead and rolled his eyes. "You have something to say...or you want to ask something. I can tell. You _never_ serve me tea and cookies unless Iruka is behind you yelling orders."

"Ah, I'm that obvious." Kakashi said distractedly. "I must work on that."

"Kakashi..." Naruto whined, sick of it being drawn out.

The older man waved him off and leaned against the cushion of the couch. "I apologize. I'm simply mildly curious. Your parents haven't said much to Iruka or I since we all left the company."  
The blond shrugged. "No, I didn't find Sasuke. We just went about the same routine. Why the hell are you so curious about the obvious?"

Kakashi furrowed his brows. "Sasuke didn't stop by?"

Naruto gave him a dead stare before standing. "Look, if you're going to be an ass, I'd rather wonder around town."

Kakashi rose from his seat with Naruto. "I don't mean to push buttons, ducky, I just wanted to know."

"What on earth would make you even think he would stop by?"

"Because he himself came by."

The blond paused, halfway around the couch and the freedom of the front door. His feet were frozen mid stride.

Kakashi gave a small nod, studying Naruto carefully. "He came to the office. Wanted to talk to you. Your parents had told Iruka about the three of you going up the coast to find him. I figured you might have missed each other. I thought he might have stopped by your house...though he doesn't know where you live. I guess I figured he would have dug it up somewhere."

"He wanted to talk to me?"

Kakashi nodded. "Seemed rather important."

Naruto frowned, taking a step back towards the couch. "What would he want to talk to _me_ about."

Kakashi left the open invitation of insults alone and went in for the kill. "Why don't you go find out?"

Naruto turned to look at him sharply. "My mother put you up to this, didn't she. For you to spew a bunch of shit and for me to fly up the coast?"

Gray hair swayed with the shake of Kakashi's head. "She has no idea about this. Only I do."

Naruto paused for a moment. His mind was going two separate directions. His heart was pounding in his chest loudly with hope.

"Go find out."

"What?"

The older of the two sat back down and leaned once against against the cushion. "You have everything to lose and everything to gain. What kind of Uzumaki would you be if you didn't roll the dice one last time?"

"A smart one." Naruto said with finality.

"Nonsense." Kakashi waved him off.

The blond paused for a moment, regarding Kakashi. "You sure she didn't tell you about the ticket?"

"She told me she was thinking about it, nothing more."

"This is insane." Naruto threw up his arms.

"Nothing is insane about chasing love, just...love itself. Go Naruto. What better way to spend Christmas than being with the person you fell in love with?"

"My mom will kill me..." The blond muttered, thinking deeply.

Kakashi took the weak point as an advantage, and continued on. "Nonsense. Look at how much she wants you to be with Sasuke. She wouldn't be mad at all."

"What if...?"

"Enough with the 'what ifs' Naruto. Grab his Christmas present, go up there, and give it to him face to face. There is your excuse. Right there."

Naruto still wasn't exactly sure why he bought Sasuke a Christmas gift when he was out shopping with his parents. Or how Kakashi knew about it. It was stupid and pointless. Not only would be never be able to give it to him, he'd most likely hate it.

"A chance is all you have. Risk it."

Without so much as a word, Naruto finished rounding the couch. He waved for Kakashi to follow. He would drive Naruto back to his parents house, he would "borrow" his mother's car, and away he would go.

The blond marched out the front door, nodding to himself.

Kakashi was making a quick phone call, grabbing his coat and car keys.

"Yes? Itachi? Yes, about what you called for? The set up, yes. The plan is in motion."

* * *

Itachi wasn't exactly the most loving brother in the world.

He indeed enjoyed the older brother roll just as much as the next person. Teasing and picking at and all the annoying things came with the job were indeed 'enjoyable'. But, above all the evil deeds  
that lurked behind any older brother lay just a brother. One who actually dose care for their sibling.

So after getting tired and done with his brother's moping, and his mother's babbles of her Sasuke is in love, he was ready to shove this shit into high gear.

The trip was a bust, but he was an Uchiha. Nothing stopped him.

Even a blond idiot who was harder to find than Waldo.

So, taking it upon himself to contact Kakashi, whose number he still had, he discovered he wasn't the only twisted person in the picture. The two of them held what you might call a conversation. Kakashi rambled, Itachi grunted. All was well. Discovering Naruto was pursuing Sasuke, feeling impatient, and ready to murder his brother for all his emo ways; he decided to side with this Kakashi.

The plan?

They weren't going to interfere per-say, but more so give them a few pushes and nudges and thrashings over the head.

They were to get the two idiots together no matter what the means were. The rest was up to them.

So it seemed Naruto was on his way _back_ up the coast once more. Or try, really. Itachi stole a look out the window of his office and frowned. The snow was coming in showers. But he trusted this Kakashi's word. Naruto was indeed stubborn, more so than Sasuke. He would manage to get here. When he did, Itachi would make sure Sasuke didn't miss his chance again.

He'd kill the idiot if he did, anyway.

* * *

This was stupid. This was insane. This was the worst idea in history.

So driving up the coast wasn't exactly Naruto's first plan. He tired to rush off the the airport, only one thing in hand, and was shot down. Flights were canceled everywhere. The snowfall up where Sasuke lived apparently was coming down heavy and made it unsafe for flying.

Sure, he wasn't really thinking straight when he rushed from Kakashi's, to his parents, took his parents car and what he needed, and sped to the airport. His mother was most likely going to kill him. Not only for ditching out on their first Christmas together in years, but for stealing her car.

Now he was driving said stolen car overnight to Sasuke's.

He'd gone and done it now. He'd officially lost his mind.

He knew he'd have to pull over at some point and rest. He wouldn't be able to make the entire drive in one shot. If he played his cards right he'd be there by tomorrow, later than he really wanted.  
What he would choose to do then was a complete and utter mystery.

"Damn being spontaneous." Naruto cursed, slamming down on the accelerator.

Then silently he made a wish, a prayer – something. He hoped he could get what he really wanted for Christmas.

* * *

"What are you smirking at?"

Itachi turned to raise simply an eyebrow at his brother. "I'm not smirking."

"You were." Sasuke pointed out. "I hate when you smirk."

It always spelled disaster waiting to happen.

Itachi pushed Sasuke's plate to him, now with his mother giving him a look. Itachi was used to curious stares and Uchiha glares. "Eat your food, little brother. All little boys need their strength."

Sasuke glanced at his mother then back to his brother. "You're up to something."

"Never." Itachi promised in his usual monotone.

"Mother..." Sasuke turned his grimacing face away from his brother. "I'll be eating in my room for lunch today."

Mikoto nodded slowly, eyeing her eldest son. "Go right ahead."

Sasuke grabbed his plate and slid off the bar stool and rushed to his room. He figured maybe he could barricade himself in. Maybe set traps. A look like that meant something was going on, and no one else was the focus but Sasuke.

Mikoto crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Itachi. "Talk, young man."

"The weather is picking up, don't you agree?" Itachi replied.

She sighed and put her hands on the counter, leaning forward towards him. "You tell me what you have planned right now, son. Your brother is going through enough, not to mention its nearly Christmas. You leave him alone."

Itachi raised his hands in mock surrender, standing from his seat and rounding the bar. He began washing his own dishes while his mother tried to glare the back of his neck off.

"Don't you worry, mother. It's all in good spirit."

* * *

"KAKASHI!" Kushina blasted, nearly kicking down his door. "WHERE IN THE _HELL_ IS MY SON?" She waved a small little note angrily in the air. Sloppily scribbled on it was simply "_Ill be back soon, don't kill me...blame Kakashi_."

A flash of silver crossed the room in fright, Minato mentally cheered him on. He would run, too, if he wasn't married to her.

Kakashi's head peaked around a corner, his eyes crossing the wall and finding a enraged Kushina. She was livid, murderous and worried all at the same time. This was dangerous.  
The grayed man almost jumped out of his skin when there was a finger pecking his shoulder. He whipped around to now find an irritated looking Iruka. He was cornered.

"Please tell me why Naruto is missing." Iruka said calmly, an underlying tone of murder laced in.

"RIGHT. NOW!"

Kakashi held up his hands, waving them quickly in hopes he wouldn't die. "He's fine."

"You better tell me why my baby is gone on Christmas Eve right now, or I will have your head for the centerpiece for the dinner tomorrow."

"We had a little talk." Kakashi confessed. "Nothing major. Just about Sasuke."

Kushina smacked her forehead, making Minato flinch. Any second that swinging hand could be aimed for him.

"I swear if you tell me what I think you're going to tell me..."

"He tried the airport, I swear." Kakashi defended. "I just thought he was going to fly, he told me about the ticket."

Minato turned to look at his wife sharply, she blushed. "Anyway..."

"He called me when he hit the interstate. Flights were canceled and the runway is shut down. Too much snow. He's...he's driving there."

"Excuse me?" Kushina growled.

Kakashi took a quick step back. "The kids' a good driver."

"No." Kushina pointed out. "He isn't."

"You're being to harsh." The man tried to reason.

"Do you still have the address? To Sasuke's place?" Kushina asked her husband, glaring him down like this was all his fault.

"In my wallet."

"Then let's go." Kushina announced, turning on her heel.

"Go where? You can't be thinking about chasing Naruto. We'll ruin everything."

She waved him off as she ripped the front door open.

Minato turned to Kakashi, giving him a sour look. "What in the hell were you thinking?"

Kakashi patted his shoulder, pushing him out the door after his wife. "I'm all for you two making sure Naruto got there alright, enjoying a bit of Christmas with him, and perhaps beating him for stealing the car. But don't let her fly off the handle when she sees Naruto."

Minato let out a bit of a hysterical laugh. "My boy dug his own grave, and Sasuke is simply guilty by association."

"Don't let her scare him off, alright?"

Then Kakashi slammed the door in Minato's face, turning to now face an irritated looking Iruka. Now he was trying to figure out how to _not_ spend the night on the couch.

"Kakashi, I swear if you ruin this..."

"Nonsense." He waved him off. "I'll be making a phone call now to make sure things go a little more smoothly. Keep Kushina and Minato at bay so Naruto can have one of those loud mouth moments  
where he doesn't think before he talks. That way he can tell Sasuke how he feels. Then he can die peacefully at his mother's own hands."

"Phone call?"

Kakashi nodded, pulling out his cell phone with a bit of a smirk. "To Santa's little helper."

Iruka shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"Hello? Itachi, yes. It _is_ me. We have a tiny rift in our plan."

Kakashi paused, trying not to face Iruka's deadly stare that refused to leave his eyes. "Two parents. One furious and one just simply along for the ride. They'll be right behind him it seems. Yes. Please do."

Kakashi hung up the phone and smiled towards Iruka with wide open arms. "All is well. They'll be fine."

"You _sure_ this Itachi will keep Kushina and Minato at bay?"

Kakashi nodded, smiling a bit. "He's good on his word."

Meanwhile...

Itachi kicked his feet up a bit and flicked through his magazine. There was no way in hell he was going to to through the snow just to stop some parents. He figured his brother and Naruto could handle them. Besides, how angry could one woman be?

* * *

The floor of the car was now littered with anything and everything that was for energy. Naruto had pulled over and slept for one hour, and that was it. It was really all he could afford. He didn't mean to bomb his mother's credit card, but some sacrifices needed to be made. Gas for the car, for one. Food and energy drinks, for another. If Sasuke shot him down and kicked him to the curb, a hotel room. He had cash to give her actually in his pocket, but he knew a card would shave even seconds off his stops.

On several accounts Naruto rethought his plan. He constantly considered turning around and heading back home.

Then he would manage to tell himself he went this far already. He'd convince himself that this was his absolute last chance. That's all he could do. Keep telling himself to continue on and to forget the fear.

It was the dead of night now. There were still quite a few cars on the road still, no doubt they were all Christmas travelers at this time of night. Naruto turned up the radio a bit and cracked the window, the wind now chilled with the cool nights air. The farther he had gotten away from home, the colder it became. It kept him awake.

His mind would occasionally play out scenarios of how the visit would possibly go. He pictured his car getting stuck in the snow, and his plans being spoiled. He imagined walking to the apartment, Sasuke being there, and then slamming the door in his face. He pictured Sasuke screaming at him. Laughing at him. Mocking him.

He was having a tough time picturing Sasuke openly excited to see him. Maybe holding him. Hopefully kissing him.

He tried to block out all the bad things that could happen. He tried to remain positive like he was known for. He tried to keep picturing him and Sasuke. Just the two of them, simply together.  
He would hold on to that his entire ride there, and hope that soon it could simply be a reality.

But he couldn't help wonder what Sasuke was doing that very minute. He was probably asleep or reading a book. More than likely he was getting ready for the new semester of school. He was not expecting Naruto to show up on Christmas. The blond frowned. He probably wasn't even a thought in Sasuke's mind.

Sasuke was lying in bed, staring at the blank ceiling. Everyone in the house was resting soundly. Christmas was always an early morning. His mother loved to watch the parade on television, and occasionally the rest of the family would join her. Family traditions were to be done throughout the day. Nothing more, nothing less.

He remembered when it first hit him that Naruto would be with him on Christmas, back in his tiny apartment with his roommate and his friends. He had dreaded it. He didn't want a single part of it. Now he couldn't stop thinking about it.

A Christmas with someone you love.

It was silly, really.

He wasn't one for feelings, mushy fluff or anything of the nature. His parents always seemed like partners more than husband and wife. That was what he was used to. He couldn't imagine Naruto standing for that. He pictured a Christmas with Naruto something close to interesting. He'd probably have crazy presents to give out, daring people to run in the snow barefoot, and probably staring out the window at his first white Christmas. He most likely would have an ugly sweater for Sasuke to wear. He'd probably drag him around and force him to get in some type of spirit. It would be the farthest thing from a normal Christmas.

It caused a hollow feeling in his gut. All he could think about was Naruto, and the idiot was gone. All he could do is act like his normal, distant and impassive self.

He let out a sigh as he turned on his side, hoping to find sleep.

He tried to shrug off the empty feeling, not used to any of the feelings this entire situation had brought to life. Absently, as he drifted off into a restless sleep, he just hoped the idiot got what he wanted for Christmas.

_

* * *

_

Christmas Day –

_Evening_

Naruto drove through the night. He would only stop at a gas station when he needed all of; gas, restroom break, and food.  
He knew the trip would be long, especially by car. He knew it would be tiring and nearly endless. So when his car crept into the city that was white with freshly fallen snow, he panicked.

"Kakashi!" Naruto nearly screamed into the phone. "This is stupid. What the fuck am I doing?"

The older man laughed and Iruka looked up curiously from his book. "Merry Christmas to you as well. You're doing everything right. Where are you?"

"I'm driving five miles an hour down the damn street. It will be an hour before I get there. AN. HOUR! That isn't long!"

Kakashi smirked lightly and studied his nails. "Just go with the flow. Do what your heart tells you. All for one and one for all!"

"What?" Naruto shook his head. "This isn't funny."

At that, Naruto's ear was met with silence. He looked at his phone to find it flashing end call at him. Of course. The one person who persuades him to go, making it seem like a great idea, now wants to have nothing to do with it. Typical Kakashi.

The blond smacked his forehead with the phone, still slowly crawling down the street with few other cars. It was Christmas and most people were at home spending it with family. He should be. This was just stupid. He was going to get shot down by Sasuke and then not get to spend Christmas with his family. He just knew it.

"Itachi?" Kakashi said merrily into the phone, a large sore spot on his forehead, and a blanket now sprawled out on the couch.

"Naruto isn't far away at all anymore. Seems like my part here is done. Good luck."

Itachi hung the phone up at the same time Kakashi did. The man cracked his fingers and stood from his desk chair. It was time to spread the Christmas spirit.

"Emergency?" Sasuke questioned, catching his coat when Itachi threw it at him. "Why in the hell would he call you?"

"He said he couldn't reach your phone and for me to tell you to come over immediately."

Sasuke glared, a scarf smacking his face. "This is just some ruse to get me to go to the party, isn't it."

Itachi barely shook his head, almost throwing Sasuke's shoes at him before the younger of the two rushed up and took them away.

"It seemed serious. I'd do my best to get there."

"He didn't say _what_ the emergency was?"

Itachi paused for a moment, pretending to ponder. "Something about Kiba and a fire?"

Sasuke stopped for a moment while his eyes widened from a glare. He threw on his coat and wrapped a scarf around his neck, completely forgetting his hat while he scrambled for his car keys. He knew it, he just knew it. He couldn't be away from his apartment without _something_ happening.

"Please explain to mother and father. I'll call."

With that, Sasuke was out the door. Itachi rolled his eyes a bit and turned on his heal, walking through the large house. His parents were in the living room. His father, sitting in his recliner and Mikoto sitting on the couch with a cozy blanket and nice book.

"Parents, I have something to discuss with you."

The two of them looked up at their oldest son, waiting patiently.

* * *

Of course his car got stuck.

Naruto groaned, punched the steering wheel and cursed. He would have to leave it there until he could get someone to help him. He looked up and down the city street, realizing he wasn't the only car snowed in and stuck.

He leaned over the driver's seat into the back, grabbing his coat and scarf. He'd walk the rest of the way. It wasn't the brightest ideas, but in the end, it was all he had. He struggled to put on everything while still sitting in the seat of the car before kicking open the door and beginning his walk. It was only around the building. He managed to make it just outside of the parking garage. That was when his luck ran out.

He tucked Sasuke's gift inside his coat pocket and began to trudge through the snow. His pants were quickly matted and cold with the power that collected on his jeans. His hair was catching flakes, and his face had nearly gone numb. He rounded the corner. There he was. He shuffled just a bit more till he was standing directly in front of the steps to the building. He had made it. This was it.

He didn't want to budge.

"Naruto?"

Said blond turned on the spot, almost slipping on the freshly powdered snow. It was his voice, he couldn't mistake it. He also couldn't shake the look on Sasuke's face when he turned to see him there.

He wasn't happy – though he never was – but he didn't look one bit interested in seeing Naruto again. Instead, Sasuke stood in the middle of the street where he could walk without trudging through snow. He was bundled in his coat, a scarf and snow was covering his dark hair. Sasuke's car had gotten stuck two blocks away, but that wasn't something to stop him to get what he _thought_ was his burning home. Instead, he was stopped by Naruto randomly appearing in the middle of a blizzard on Christmas, right in front of his apartment building.

The blond really didn't have time to come up with anything to say except what he had been praying for. "I was hoping you were home."

"What are you doing here?"

The blond shrugged, trying to think of something to say other than "_to confess my love for you._" So, of course, he came up with the dumbest thing to say. "Well, it _is_ Christmas. _Duh_."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "_And._ What does that have to do with you being here?"

The blond shrugged. "Christmas present."

Sasuke walked up to Naruto through the snow, looking furious. If this is what his brother had been talking about, he'd kill him. The blond took a cautious step back when Sasuke was in his face, looking furious. "You just up and disappear and then just show back up? What the hell is wrong with you?"

Naruto winced. "There was a reason. A good reason, I might add."

"Then give me a _good_ reason as to why you just up and left me."

Naruto's heart jumped. So did his mouth. "I thought it didn't matter if I left you or not."

"It didn't." Sasuke growled. "It mattered that you left without a word. If something would have happened to you I would have been living on the streets for the rest of my life."

The blond stopped, ready to say something when that sentence really sunk in. It felt like he had been punched in the gut. Those words were so cold, knowing he was unwanted. He felt his insides turn to ice.

"I just...I mean...I wasn't...I didn't even..."

Sasuke shocked aggravation was shut off like it was connected to a switch. He didn't even mean to say something like that. He was still mad, deep down. It was hard to get over that anger when you fell in love with someone and they up and leave. Now he was back and Sasuke was screwing it all up already.

Sasuke let out a small sigh. "Aren't you breaking some type of rule or contract by just being here?"

Naruto winced, holding up his index finger. Sasuke _had_ to know that he got fired, he probably thought they'd all be screwed anyway. "About that. We _really_ have a lot to catch up on. See, this is what happened..."

"NARUTO!"

The blond whipped around on the spot, his eyes nearly bugging out of his head. His new found chance to say something – anything – and the welcome wagon wanted to run them over.

"Mom! What in the hell are you doing here?"

Sauske's heart jumped. It was Naruto's mom. The woman who disowned him because of his sexuality. The woman who Naruto had been fighting so hard to get back. He wanted to get out of sight before she came up with accusations.

"You steal my damn car again and I will murder you!" She roared, the statement echoing off of the fallen snow.

Minato popped out of the driver's side, standing in the open door and slapping his hand on the roof. The car was parked in the middle of the road. "Really, Naruto. Next time just tell the woman you're going on your divine quest and all that, she'll let you use it."

"Dad, she'll murder you too." Naruto said more to himself than his father.

"Is this him?" Kushina asked angrily, marching up to the pair. Sasuke was trying to back away, and if he had to he'd throw Naruto in the cross hairs and take them both down in the process.

She marched right up to Sasuke who was stuck in his spot. His head jerked back when the short little fiery mother got right in his face.

"I swear if you _ever_ make _my_ baby go through thisagain, I will have your head on a damn platter. And _you_." She turned on Naruto now, who was frozen in fear and embarrassment. "If you _ever_ put this man through this again, I'll have _your_ head. What in the _hell _were you two thinking!"

Minato put a calming hand on his wife's shoulder, the car still running in the middle of the road. "Sweetheart, someone should introduce themselves before killing them. Its only proper."

She ignored her husband entirely. "Now you listen here, Sasuke. You treat my son right, you here me? And Naruto, the same goes to you. I swear if I have to go through this _all_ over again because one of you does something stupid, I'll make your life _hell_."

Minato clapped his hands together. "_Annnnd_, so nice to meet you."

Naruto's hand met his forehead. "Mom, dad, we're kinda in the middle of something."

"Pneumonia can be interrupted." Kushina snapped.

Sasuke let out a small chuckle. He was so entirely lost. Minato smiled. "I'm Naruto's father, Minato. This sweet, loving and caring young lady here is Naruto's mother, Satan...I mean, Kushina."

Sasuke glanced at Naruto for a moment and he shook his head a little. "Catching up..."

Sasuke shook Minato's hand, and uncertainly, he shook Kushina's. This was, by far, the most awkward situation of his entire life. Even over telling his father he was in love with another man and his father all for helping him get back together with said man.

"Now, I do apologize for interrupting the two of you as I'm sure there are things to be said, catching up to be done, explanations and so on and so forth. But I do hope you two can do that somewhere a bit warmer, where your mother and I can have a separate room in which to thaw out and calm down your mom."

Sasuke barely shook his head. "My apartment. Its right here."

"If you know, you want to park the car properly and it's okay with Sasuke." Naruto butt in.

Minato ran and slid back to the car to get it parked. He also wanted to rush so not to leave his wife alone too long with Naruto and Sasuke.

"Mom..." Naruto growled out through clenched teeth. "Why are you here? And how on earth did you _know_ I was here?"

She gave a quick, bright smile. "A mother's secret."

Their eyes were directed towards Naruto's father and the car, the tires spinning pointlessly. Of course he was stuck in the road.

Naruto looked at his mom and the two of them rolled their eyes, he patted her shoulder and walked past her. He'd steer, his father could push.

"So." Kushina said, turning to watch her son drag her husband out of the car. "You're Sasuke."

Said man turned his head just slightly to look at her. "Yes ma'am."

She turned and gave him a bit of a look. "You spent more than five minutes with my child and still have manners? I'm impressed."

Sasuke repressed a snort. He was trying to play off everything. Knowing about Naruto's home situation, getting somewhat involved with Naruto, and most importantly being in love with him.  
Kushina rolled her eyes as her husband grunted like an old sore man as he pushed the car, Naruto yelling at him.

"I have to say Sasuke, if I have to go through _all_ of this again, you'll regret it."

He looked towards the mother. "Go through what?"

He took the smallest step back when she growled, her glare turning towards him. "Are you shitting me? I. Will. Kill. You."

"Parked!" Naruto let out loudly, siding up with his mother.

Minato came shuffling up tiredly next to his wife, giving her a look and then taking a step back. He'd seen that looks many a time and it usually led to him sleeping on the couch.

"Sweetheart, why don't we get on up to Sasuke's apartment now. Warm you up."

Kushina stepped towards the front door without a word, Minato following along and Naruto glaring at Sasuke.

"What the hell did you do? You two were alone for five seconds."

"I didn't do shit!"

"Boys!" Kushina shouted. "I don't know where in the world I'm going. Move it!"

Sasuke and Naruto, side by side, walked through the snow towards the front door of the apartment complex. It was still snowing heavily. Their hair was damp as well as their clothes. They climbed the stairs side by side, Minato and Kushina following behind them.

"I didn't mean for them to come." Naruto muttered.

"I thought you said they kicked you out?" Sasuke whispered.

"Remember that whole catching up bit?"

"And _why_ do you want to catch up after you up and left? I thought you made it pretty clear you were done."

The blond looked at Sasuke strangely. "Done with what?"

The raven sighed, opening the door. "What I meant was..."

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!"

Naruto jumped back at the rounding chorus, and Sasuke smacked the hell out of his forehead. He forgot about the damn party.

Kushina pushed the two boys aside, sniffing at the air. "I smell hot chocolate."

Within a blink of an eye, she was gone. Minato chuckled and clapped both boys on the shoulders. "I'll go follow her."

"Naruto!" Kiba hollered. He walked up and yanked the blond in, throwing his arm over his shoulder. "I'm glad you showed, man! Didn't think you were coming! Let me introduce you to some people."

"What the hell are you doing?"

Sasuke looked to the left inside the doorway. Shikamaru was standing there, his fingers laced with a girl. Temari was next to him chatting with Tsunade.

"What the hell am _I_ doing? This was a set up, wasn't it?"

"Yeah." Shikamaru bit. "He's there. Right. There."

"You don't think I see that?"

"Then why in the fuck are you standing here?" Shikamaru whispered harshly. "What kind of Uchiha _are_ you?"

"Oh shut up." Sasuke muttered.

The party continued on. Minato and Kushina mingled like they had known everyone for the longest time. Naruto talked and laughed with Chouji, Shino and Kiba. He played it off as he felt comfortable and at ease. In reality he was tense and worried. He kept trying to catch quick looks at Sasuke. At one point he was talking to the old hag. Another he was glaring at Shikamaru. The last was when he was standing with his family in the doorway. It was unmistakeable. They _had_ to be related. The same hair, skin and eyes. Not to mention Sasuke looked like he wanted to kill one of them – it had to be his brother.

"Whoa." Kiba said under his breath. "Looks like those rumors are true."

Chouji sipped his drink, staring where Kiba was. "I never thought they'd step foot in here."

"They look uncomfortable." Naruto noticed out loud.

But the blond felt his stomach turn to ice when the entire group turned to look at him. Something about it was creepy and at the same time, foreboding.

Naruto felt his eyes bug out of his head when he saw his mom boldly walk up to who had to be Sasuke's mom. She could tell she was doing introductions. Sasuke slipped away without notice from the group and bumped right back into Shikamaru.

They seemed to have a small argument. Sasuke's hands were balled into fists and his jaw was clenched. He looked furious when he turned around and made straight towards Naruto. The blond turned around and pretended like he hadn't been staring.

He almost choked on his drink when Sasuke grabbed his upper arm and growled at him. "Catching up. Now."

Naruto nearly yelped when Sasuke yanked the blond away from the group. Kiba snorted into his cup. "I'd run for my life, too, if I had parents like Sasuke's."

Sasuke dragged the pair to the closest sanctuary, which was his room. It was void of the "Christmas Spirit" and holiday guests.

Sasuke practically threw Naruto into his room and slammed the door behind him, the blond turning to face him. "Are you that worried about our parents meeting?"

Sasuke wanted to turn around and say "yes" but decided he would avoid that explanation entirely. He didn't want to tell Naruto he was just waiting for his mom to babble about how Sasuke was in love. It was going to be her or Itachi. He cursed. Someone was going to talk.

Sasuke turned to Naruto who had put his drink on Sasuke's bedside table, now wiping his palms on his pants.

"I just can't take the party."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, you aren't the social type."

The two fell into an awkward silence as they took off their coats and scarfs that they hadn't cared about until now. Sasuke leaned back against his door to prevent break-ins via his older brother, and Naruto sat on the edge of the bed only to look around the room quietly. He tired to hide the smile, but it was so hard. Sasuke had dragged out his awards and placed them around the room. His diploma from high school was now hanging over his bed. He had his karate belts in a case on the wall.

"The place looks good." Naruto said awkwardly.

"All that Christmas crap looks good?"

Naruto snorted. "No, your room. It looks like someone actually lives here instead of a creature dwelling here on a random occasion."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and Naruto continued to slowly rub his palms on his jeans. The blond really couldn't stand silence, let alone this one.

"So, you and your parents are cool now?"

Sasuke shrugged, still leaning on the door. "Yeah."

Naruto laughed. "What kind of catching up is that? You can't tell me what happened?"

The raven sighed, shrugging again. It seemed to be his favorite action. "Itachi and I talked and agreed I should talk to my parents. It wasn't the prettiest of conversations, but we're working on it."

It was the closest thing to the truth and as far as he could get as well.

"I'm staying there over the holidays. We're trying to work through things slowly. Looks like you and your parents are well."

The blond's face lit up. A stretching smile, bright eyes – everything. "Yeah! Its a _long_ story, but things are great."

"So, in that long story of yours, is there a real reason for leaving? A bullshit note with a few sloppy sentences really doesn't grasp that."

Naruto swallowed hard, wincing a little. "It's a really _long_ story."

"I mean, you get fired and you didn't come back, so you obviously didn't want to." Sasuke sighed out. "So why now?"

"And I mean a _long_ story."

Naruto wouldn't really admit that he was losing his courage to tell Sasuke. He had driven overnight just to come and take a chance on seeing him, and now he wasn't sure he could. He was scared. Yeah, mister self-proclaiming fearless leader was now doubting everything. He was here. Sasuke was right in from of him. The thought of risking something and losing him all over again made him want to fall apart.

The blond let his fingers tangle together. "I had an opportunity. It was nothing against you. I just...couldn't face you when I left."

"You couldn't just say goodbye to my face?"

The blond let out of breath. He figured if it all came tumbling out, then there was no avoiding it. If things went sour, he'd at least get to say goodbye face to face this time.

"I got to meet my father for the first time in years after I left." Naruto said gently, a small smile playing with his lips. "My mom had left a note, you see. She really did still love me. You were actually right, but don't let that inflate your ego."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, but continued to listen.

"She kicked me out and used my sexuality as an excuse. She wanted me to have a normal life. Her child." Naruto snorted. "But when I finally talked to my dad, I got it through to him that I couldn't have a normal life without them."

Sasuke clenched his teeth, the grinding noise echoing in his ears.

"My dad had been sneaking around without me knowing. I guess it was coincidence really. But that's a whole different story itself. My dad got the both of us out of the company."  
Sasuke's eyes landed on Naruto and waited.

The blond shrugged. "I thought, you know, maybe I could come and visit you now. No worries. No breaking your bank and stuff. Just friends being friends."

And every single little sliver of hope Sasuke was holding up withered when he heard the word "friend". Just friends and nothing more.

Naruto shrugged and said something he had been dying to say. "I just wanted to see you..."

"Well you did." Sasuke bit. "Done now?"

The blond froze up a bit before rigidly standing, shaking his head. "I knew I shouldn't have come back."

"And why is that? At least you finally got the balls to say _something_ before leaving."

"Because you're obviously in a joyous overload to see my face."

Sasuke glared at him. "You have know damn idea how I feel."

"What in the hell did I do?"

Sasuke let out a shaky breath. "Everything, Naruto. You _changed_ everything."

Naruto walked towards the door, reaching past Sasuke and grabbing the handle. "Well then, I'm so sorry I ever showed up at your front door."

The raven moved out of his way, glaring at him. "I got that hint when you left the last time."

"Right!" Naruto snapped. "I forgot I was some burden that showed up on your doorstep. Not a passing thought about me since I left, right? I was just another damn person passing through your oh-  
so-important life."

Sasuke got in Naruto's face with a furious look. "And I was just another person you could use along the way!"

Mikoto and Kushina looked towards the room door when they heard the shouting. Minato and Fugaku shared a look when they heard the first punch land.

Itachi spoke lightly behind them, swirling his drink in boredom. "Let them bond."

"Murder is not bonding." Minato pointed out.

"Sometimes..." Kushina said meekly.

Naruto's fist was wrapped around Sasuke's upper part of the shirt, and Sasuke mirrored the grip. Both of them had looks of determination and their loose fists were pulled back ready to strike.  
Sasuke let go of Naruto as he shoved him one last time against his bedroom door. "Just leave already. You got all the money you needed from here, right?"

Naruto jolted forward and gave Sasuke another shove. "You think I really wanted to leave you? You think I wanted to just leave without a word? You act like that was easy!"

"Sure as shit seemed like it!" Sasuke snapped.

"You don't even know what I went through after I left here!" Naruto yelled.

Sasuke gave him a nasty look. "Oh yeah, it must have been so hard hanging out with your parents."

"You were doing the same thing!" Naruto pointed out.

"No, idiot, I wasn't."

"Right, you were living it up without my annoying ass around. I must have forgotten how much you reminded me I was just a thorn in your side. I have no idea _what_ I was thinking coming back! You _hated_ me."

Sasuke clenched his jaw to stop himself from shouting at Naruto. This was getting them nowhere. Fighting out of anger. This was driving him father and father away from him. This was making him lose him entirely.

"See..." Naruto's face was trying to hold back a hurt expression, failing miserably. "You've _always_ hated me. I came in and screwed up your entire life. You made it clear."

Sasuke let out a long and tired sigh. "Damn you, Naruto."

The blond let out a frustrated growl before turning towards the door and turning the handle. He had the door open enough just to see the room full of people still going about their business. The door was pushed shut with a snap by Sasuke's hand.

Shikamaru sank against the wall, a relived sigh pouring out of his mouth. "_Finally_."

"What?" Temari asked, "Finally what?"

Shikamaru slid his arm tight around Temari's slender shoulders and gave her a little smile. "Nothing. Lets go spike the punch bowl."

TBC

* * *

Author's Note: Hello! Told you, leave you hanging. With the next chapter, there will be an edited version and an unedited version. The unedited version will be posted at my LJ (link in profile) and you must be a friend.  
Note: Next chapter will be the last chapter before the epilogue.


	20. To Be, No Questions Asked

Chapter Twenty: To Be, No Questions Asked

Author's Notes: Here we are at the end of another road. Another road I thought wouldn't take that long to travel down...go figure. There will be an Epi, but I know a lot of you don't enjoy them. So, for some of you, I thank you once again for reading another one of my fictions and sticking around. All your reviews meant the world to me, and I'm glad I could bring you all joy in another fiction of mine.

_Curtain Call_

Warnings/Disclaimer: There is an _unedited_ version that can be found on my LJ. Link in profile and must be a friend. Otherwise...nothing major. I think there is fluff down there...meh.

Chapter Twenty: To Be, No Questions Asked

_A special thank you to my muses, as this wouldn't be done for who knows how long.  
Ash and Jen  
_Sasuke's hand was firmly planted against the door, holding it closed. He was nearly pressed against Naruto's back so he could keep the door shut. The blond felt his heart slam in his chest.

"Damn you, damn you, damn you..." Sasuke whispered.

"If you want to curse me so much, let me out of the room." Naruto muttered.

Sasuke grabbed Naruto's upper arm and pulled him around to face him. Their chests were almost touching, their faces were close, their hearts were pounding. They weren't sure who's heart they were hearing, both beating loudly. Sasuke's hand holding the door shut was next to his head, his other hand dropped from Naruto's arm.

"Damn you Naruto..." Sasuke sighed out, pressing his forehead against Naruto's. "Just kiss me."

There was a moment where Naruto thought he misheard something, and maybe his subconscious was playing tricks on him. Then he remembered the moment in the kitchen, in front of Kakashi. His heart jumped. All or nothing, he reminded himself. Even if this was a ruse, a joke, a horrible prank; he had to take his last chance.

The blond grabbed hold of the front of Sasuke's shirt like he was holding on for his life. When his lips connected with Sasuke's, it felt like everything was right again.

No disconnection, no hate, none of that. It was a pointless fight. He shouldn't have worried. That familiar feeling of peace was back, just because of Sasuke.

Naruto pulled back for a second and let out a small, hysterical laugh before Sasuke kissed him again. The blond felt Sasuke's free hand come up and cup the back of his head to force him forward.

Sasuke pulled back a little, and he just barely shook his head.

The blond felt his heart nearly drop out of his chest. If Sasuke suddenly had a change of heart...

"I thought I lost the first person I fell in love with."

Naruto, in all his his uncontrollable excitement, launched off the door with the force of a bull. Latching his arms firmly around Sasuke, the two of them had no other option but to go down. They landed with a resounding crash and Naruto in a fit of uncontainable laughter. Naruto buried his face in the crook of Sasuke's neck, laughing his head off.

Sasuke cursed. "Shit, Naruto. You don't have to hurt me."

The blond laughed, pulling back a little. "Farthest thing from it."

Sasuke's head was almost slammed back against the floor by the force of Naruto's sudden kiss. The two pulled apart when their was a furious knock at Sasuke's door.

The two turned to the door before looking back at each other. Part of them was annoyed that their final moment was interrupted. The other part sensed the doom lurking on the other side of the door.  
They slowly rose from the floor and together they cautiously opened the door.

There, right before them, stood two _furious_ looking mother's and a mocking brother in the background.

"Run." Itachi smirked. "It's almost more fun when you drag out the process."

* * *

Naruto swirled his new drink, sitting packed in on the couch. He was crammed in between Sasuke and his mother. Sasuke was crammed between Naruto and his own mother.

"Well hasn't this been a holly jolly Christmas?" Shikamaru grumbled.

"Dashing through the snow to the airport, over the hills of the coast and all in a car." Itachi mumbled, Minato snorted. Kushina turned around on the couch and glared at her husband.

"It is _far_ from funny."

Naruto glanced at Sasuke with a smile, and the raven smirked back with a small shake of his head.

Kushina threw up a hand towards the seemingly trapped boys. "Do you _know_ what I went through?"

"Brace yourself." Naruto warned under his breath.

Sasuke barely glanced at his mother and then turned to give Naruto a single nod. "Same."

"Do you boys have _any_ idea how damn _stupid_ this has been?"

"The worry you've put your family through." Mikoto added more gently.

Minato elbowed Fugaku who gave him an annoyed glare. "I was just worried Kushina was going to kill someone. Mainly your boy for not announcing his profound love for my son."

Shikamaru eyed Minato's cup. He'd gotten into the punch.

Kushina turned to look at her husband. "And our loud mouth son couldn't open his mouth this _one_ time. I swear the two of you are going to be the death of me."

Naruto and Sasuke calmly sipped their hot chocolate and coffee, trying to hide the smirk and grin that was eating at their lips.

"I doubt they care." Itachi sighed.

Sasuke tilted his head back. Why on earth would he have said that?

"Oh they better care!" Kushina snapped.

"Agreed." Mikoto growled.

"Dear." Minato slurred. "I do believe the boys should have some time alone. Lots to talk about. Apparently we have new friends to make as well." Minato elbowed Fugaku in the gut. "We're on the verge of ruining everything."

"I'm not done." Mikoto said sternly.

"Neither am I!" Kushina snapped.

Both boys had turned to look at their mother's, trying to merge together before melting into the couch to disappear. If you wanted to break a fearless man, you go to his mother.  
Fugaku and Minato's hands came to rest on tense shoulders, their wives turned to glare at them.

"Dear, I think time to cool down is necessary." Fugaku said suddenly, trying to scoot away from Minato's elbow. "Rationalization before conversation."

"What he said." Minato grinned.

"I hate to say Minato's right." Mikoto said. "We don't want to ruin anything after all this nonsense."

"I do suppose it's more rational to take care of you at the moment." Kushina sighed. Her husband had a lean to him and a goofy smile now.

"We should probably have this conversation when it's more private." Mikoto said lightly.

"Now then, there is that hotel just up the street. The nice one you like. We can go there since we'll never make it home." Fugaku said gently, subtly dragging his wife from the couch.

"It's no fun if mother and Kushina are stopped from their rampage. You'll ruin the holiday spirit."

Minato clapped Itachi's shoulder and gave him a goofy grin. "Here's holiday spirit. Run your ass up the street and start getting rooms."

Mikoto tried to hide a laugh when Itachi looked at Minato like he had lost his mind. Fugaku nudged his son and nodded towards the door. "Agreed."

"Something is wrong." Naruto muttered darkly. "Very wrong."

"Why is that?" Sasuke asked quietly, eyeing his parents oddly.

"My mother _never_ walks away from an argument. This could be bad. Very bad."

Sasuke gave a little shrug, the two of them turned to watch their parents. "Or you could simply be thankful your father is drunk."

"But our parents...they're acting so..."

"Nice." Shikamaru rolled is eyes. "Because they're happy for you two."

Naruto glanced at Shikamaru before looking towards his parents. Kushina was laughing at Minato while he flashed a drunkards smile. He couldn't remember the last time his mom laughed like that.  
Sasuke was looking at his parents. His father was helping his mother put on her coat before placing a kiss on her cheek.

It did seem as though everyone was in good spirits. Naruto nor Sasuke didn't really think it was because of the holiday season. It was more along the lines that everything was falling into place for everyone. Families were happily back together. Two families were being brought together by two people in love. It was enough to make anyone happy really.

Even the Uchiha's.

Naruto stood up and helped his mother get his father into warm, weather friendly clothes. Sasuke was handing his father his coat.

"Mom, do me a favor and call me when you get dad settled." The blond dug in his pocket and fished out his wallet, turning to Fugaku who he had barely formally met. "I don't know how long my parents will be stuck in the hotel. This is all the money I had stashed away that I grabbed before I left. I was going to use it to pay back my mom since using her card was a lot faster..."

Fugaku patted Naruto's hands that were fumbling to take out money. "No need to worry."

"No." Naruto insisted. "I have no idea how long they're going to be stuck in the hotel. Then there is food and..."

Mikoto patted his cheek with a little giggle. "Such a wonderful son. You don't worry about a thing."

Naruto winced. "I can't have you guys pay for everything."

"Then you and Sasuke will take the four of us out to dinner when this weather clears. We'll have a wonderful family dinner. As well as, you and Sasuke will sit down with your mother and I for a nice discussion."

Naruto looked over his shoulder at Sasuke who was standing right behind him. He of course had his blank face on. Inside, he was no doubt panicking. Naruto couldn't blame him. The thought of their families before was terrifying. Now that they seemed to get along it was scarier. Who knows what embarrassing and awkward moments could come out of it.

Naruto turned back to the pair. "Totally."

Fugaku gave his wife a funny look and she laughed. "He means he's excited for it, dear."

Naruto and Sasuke tried to hide their snorts.  
_  
"Piggy..."_ Minato drew out next to the boys, smiling widely.

"Father, would you give Naruto and I a minute and we'll accompany you all to the hotel."

Kushina smiled towards Sasuke and patted his shoulder. "You're such a polite and sweet boy."

Mikoto smiled at the complement and Fugaku smirked. Any parent loved hearing things about their child, but the pride would show when it was linked to how they were raised.  
Sasuke and Naruto walked off towards Sasuke's room and once in, they began to bundle up for the walk. They went back to their regular routine like Naruto never left. Albeit, there was a still a slightly awkward air, they just eased back into it. They argued a little about who was going to wear what, the color it was _not_ going to be and just how many layers were needed before immobilization.

Naruto wrapped a scarf around Sasuke's neck while Sasuke tugged a hat on over Naruto's wild hairdid the same. They bumped heads when they both looked down to zip up their coats and then laughed it off. Naruto stole a quick kiss before they walked out of the room.

Naruto sided up to his parents and next to him were Sasuke and his. The young blond smiled. "Best Christmas ever."

* * *

The walk to the hotel was slow through the snow, but full of pointlessly fun laughs. At one point Minato jokingly licked his wife's cheek after she made a comment about his balance. She immediately knocked him over into a snow drift.

Naruto and Sasuke had to dig him out while Mikoto and Kushina laughed and Fugaku shook his head. Naruto of course started a snowball fight. Minato and Fugaku stood on the outside of the battle intent not to get involved. Or rather, Fugaku was stuck babysitting Minato. It was Naruto and his mom versus Sasuke and his mother. Sasuke and Naruto took on each other while the two moms battled it out. That was until both mother's smashed snowballs into their sons faces. Quick payback, they insisted. It was enjoyable pointless fun.

Now frozen to the bone and just near the hotel, the groups split. They wished each other a Marry Christmas. Naruto hugged both of his parents and kissed each of their cheeks. Sasuke hugged his mother and after a stone cold glare from said mother, he hugged his father, too.

"Call, okay? And give dad a lot of water." Naruto insisted. Then he whispered under his breath. "I'm sorry we missed Christmas..."

Kushina smiled at him and rubbed at his arms. "Hush. This was an amazing Christmas."

"Please forewarn me if mother and Kushina decide to plot our deaths." Sasuke said to his father.

"We'll talk about the dinner tomorrow." Fugaku added.

Sasuke and Naruto waited till their parents were safely in the hotel before turning around and headed back to Sasuke's apartment. It was silent for most of the walk as they trudged through the snow. Naruto occasionally pointed out Christmas lights happily and Sasuke would comment on eyesore trees that could be spotted through a window five miles away.

Not to far from the house Naruto grabbed Sasuke's hand as they were walking, and this time without a struggle whatsoever, Sasuke held on.

Sasuke added in the one sentence Naruto never thought he'd hear as they entered the apartment building. "Welcome back."

* * *

"Man, your friends are messy." Naruto yawned at the end of the night.

They helped with the clean up process once they had gotten back. It was late and the party had wined down. Those who hadn't left when the snow had really started to come down were now preparing to spend the night. Kiba and Naruto passed out as many blankets and pillows as they could. Everyone helped clean up while Temari had told everyone where they would be sleeping. The living room wasn't as nearly full as Shikamaru and Sasuke had anticipated.

Kiba had begun chatting aimlessly with Naruto after he was settled in his spot on the floor, the two of them sitting there covered in cozy blankets.

Shikamaru and Sasuke were standing off in the kitchen, surveying the place and having a drink of water.

"This is the first Christmas party you hung around for." Shikamaru pointed out.

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing." Sasuke muttered, glancing at Temari as she joined Naruto and Kiba.

"Not at all. It's nice to have you here and _not_ acting like Scrooge."

Sasuke turned to glare at him but Shikamaru laughed it off. "I'm just glad you two are finally happy together."

"What?"

It had always been a thing between Shikamaru and Sauske to be sarcastic and blunt towards the other. It was always rare for them to be kind.

"It's indeed troublesome when you're an emo bitch." Shikamaru added with a smirk.

Sasuke rolled his eyes before bumping his shoulder against Shikamaru's. "Merry Christmas, asshole."

Sasuke walked off to join Naruto, Kiba and Temari. Shikamaru hung back for a moment and smiled. He knew Sasuke was nearly impossible to get to say thank you. But he understood the underlying meaning to that lovely holiday wish.

"A Christmas miracle." Shikamaru decided. He had bought his friend a gag gift just to piss him off, and instead, it turned into something that had the outcome to bring him happiness.

* * *

Sasuke and Naruto called it a night. Naruto was still running on only an hour of sleep, and the anxiety and past energy drinks now wore him thin. He had nearly fallen asleep sitting up when Sasuke decided to call it a night. He hadn't gotten much sleep either.

The two of them walked around the slumbering guests into Sasuke's room, Naruto yawning. "Sorry we can't catch up."

Sasuke shook his head, trying to peel off his shoes. "We have tomorrow."

Naruto gave a tired smile at that and nudged Sasuke a little. "We do, don't we?"

He smirked in response. "Get in bed before you just simply drop."

"I'm goin'." Naruto yawned, yanking off his shoe and simply falling over on the bed. He still had one on. Sasuke shook his head and unceremoniously dumped himself on the bed as well, one shoe on himself.

Naruto rolled halfway over and bumped into Sasuke, lifting his blond head so Sasuke could slide his arm underneath as a makeshift pillow.

Naruto let out a long, relieving sigh as he felt the warmth of Sasuke seep in. He smiled lightly as he slid his fingers in between Sasuke's. He felt a small, barely noticeable kiss touch the top of his head, and then he felt the weight of Sasuke's face leaning there.

It was okay that they hadn't finished their talk. It was okay Naruto didn't explain entirely why he left. It was okay that Sasuke didn't outright say "I love you". Everything was okay right now. Because, tomorrow was a new day, a new start; they were no longer on a time limit. They had tomorrow. They had the day after. They could have forever if they wanted. But tonight, Christmas ended with presents of sleep, peace, comfort, and most importantly, love.

* * *

December 31st , Friday

The entire week went like a blur.

Most of the guests ended up staying for a few days, which drove Sasuke to the brink of destruction. The Uchiha's family SUV ended up being the taxi around town. Sasuke and Naruto drove their parents to the Uchiha household once the streets were semi-cleared, and then the two of them used to it take people home. Naruto could have sworn more than once as they were dropping another person off, he heard Sasuke bless four-wheel-drive.

Shikamaru went home with Temari, though a cluster of them had to spend hours digging out the cars that had gotten stuck. Naruto and Sasuke returned the SUV near the end of the day and were coaxed into staying.

"You don't have choice." Kushina and Mikoto said in unison as Sasuke tried to pass off the car keys to his father.

Naruto had already been taking off his shoes and coat, considering he knew they already missed one holiday together, they weren't going to be able to miss another. Especially since they had yet to go out to dinner.

Naruto and Sasuke had been spending the week together, and not with their parents. They were trying to get back into the swing of things without having to discuss any part of it. The only problem was it had become completely unavoidable. Apologies still _had_ to be made and the past had to be addressed before letting it go.

Kushina looked at her son and grinned a little, ruffling his hair. "Getting sick of wearing Sasuke's clothes?"

The blond grumbled a little. The clothes weren't huge on him or anything, just barely actually. Some of the shirts were too tight for his liking, but he mostly missed the wonderful thing called color.  
"Yeah, I didn't get to go out shopping like you and dad did."

Minato waved his son off. "We needed clothes for the colder weather now, anyway. We were just preparing for future visits here."

Naruto glared, knowing it was just a horrible excuse to go buy clothes so they wouldn't have to borrow any.

"Well, we'll be heading home soon, right? Kakashi and Iruka said they dropped off all your stuff, so you'll be in your clothes again soon." Kushina smiled.

Naruto's heart slammed against his chest for a moment, and part of him felt like it simply stopped. He hadn't really been concentrating on the fact that he and his family would be leaving soon. He had been focused on making things right between him and Sasuke. Reality, though, had a way of showing its ugly head at the most inconvenient of times.

Itachi smacked his brother upside the head, seeing Naruto's somewhat blank stare at his mother. Sasuke turned around to glare at his brother and perhaps return the loving gesture.

"Why don't you give Naruto a tour of the house, Sasuke. His parents have already been shown around. Be polite."

Sasuke turned to Naruto and the blond shrugged. Neither of them really could care less. That was, until Mikoto said the magic words.

"Naruto, I made a cake. It was nice to be able to make something sweet for a change and not giving it away. I hope you'll help yourself to it."

The blond turned to Sasuke. "The kitchen. I want to see the kitchen."

Mikoto and Kushina shared a laugh while Sasuke shrugged off his coat and Naruto bounced from foot to foot next to him. It had been awhile since he got to eat something sweet.  
Naruto followed next to Sasuke down the hall and into the kitchen. He didn't really gawk like Sasuke expected. Everyone usually did when they came to a big house. It got old quickly, and usually got on his nerves.

Naruto waved his hand in front of his face, "Hey, you can either give me a knife and fork to cut and eat the cake, or simply a fork."

Sasuke glared at him. "I'm just used to people taking five minutes to go on and on with how big the house is and how huge the kitchen is..."

"Oh, pfft. I could care less. I'm in it to win it, which would be the cake. Move it."

Sasuke snorted, walking to the utensil drawer. Without voicing it, he silently thanked Naruto. He could care less about what Sasuke had or will have, but just Sasuke himself. And cake.

* * *

Naruto kicked back in Sasuke's desk chair while Sasuke was stretched out on his bed, flicking through a book. They had just had their first experience of a family dinner. It wasn't great, or horrible, just a little...

"Terrifying..." Naruto supplied, mentally recreating the event in his head to know doubt, cause permanent scarring. "It was absolutely terrifying."

Sasuke pursed his lips, flicking another page. He couldn't find any sort of reason to disagree, really. Their mother's retold their tales of travel in search of their young sons love. Then they turned on their sons, letting them no how close they had been, and how stupid they were.

That whole entire thing had turned into something even worse – parental babble. Horror stories from childhood that their parents thought were fond memories.

Kushina told about Naruto's three-year-old streaking experience through the neighborhood, while Mikoto talked about Sasuke yanking down Itachi's pants in the middle of a business dinner at their home at the tender age of four. Naruto moment of glory when he dressed in his moms clothes at four? Told twice. When Sasuke loudly asked in the middle of a fine restaurant at seven that he wanted to know where babies came from? They practically reenacted it. All the stories Naruto and Sasuke didn't want the other to know, all the embarrassing ones, were now right on the dinner table.

"I'm only grateful to know you in fact embarrassed Itachi in front of your father's business partners. That gives me hope in that horror fest."

"He had it coming." Sasuke snarled.

Naruto turned in the chair, his eyebrows raising in mock surprise at the tone. "What's wrong, he crush all your hopes and dreams?"

"My Lego castle." Sasuke corrected dully. "That took me three months to build."

"Your revenge factor is both amusing and scary." Naruto deadpanned.

Sasuke shrugged in response. He still, till this day, thought Itachi deserved that and more. But he was pretty sure he was in fact, somehow, still grounded from the experience.  
The two fell into silence. Naruto still continued to glance around the room. Sasuke explained that his mother secretly did it, and his father still had no clue. It kept making Naruto smile because it seemed something his mother would do.

"I think its safe to say your parents still love you."

Naruto let out a long, slow breath after that sentence. It was the only thing he could think of to set up for their important conversation he knew they had to have. Things were still a little tense and awkward. They hadn't kissed since their reunion. Still, no one had openly said "I love you". It had gotten to be too much for Naruto.

"Yeah..." Sasuke shut his book, sitting it on his chest. "My mom...she had never lost faith in me as her son. She still loved me no matter what."

"Your dad still loves you, too. You both are the non-open type with feelings."

Sasuke snorted. "He seemed a bit...edgy about me showing up until I explained why I was there."

Naruto winced slightly, but decided to push his luck. "You never really told me how you and your folks got back to being a family. It just went from, you guys weren't talking to you all traveling up the coast. I didn't get the middle part of that story."

"You don't need to..." Sasuke muttered, not really wanting to share that. It was a little embarrassing and overall, unlike him.

"It can't be that bad." Naruto urged.

Sasuke sat up on his bed, swinging his legs over the side and setting his feet on the floor, thankful for his socks as the hardwood could get cold. Sasuke leaned over and placed his elbows on his thighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Man Sasuke, you act like _you_ were the one selling their body."

Sasuke looked up and glared at the blond, who simply laughed in return.

"Its no big deal." Naruto shrugged. "I know you aren't a "sharing is caring" type of person. No reason to push you and start an argument. Let's end the year on a good note at least."

Sasuke carefully watched Naruto as he stood and seemed to study the guitar cords poster. "Since when did you become sensible and practical?"

The blond laughed. "I just meant it. I don't want this to go badly and then I go home and that's that all over again."

"It was never "that's that"." Sasuke pointed out. "So stop moping."

"I'm not moping." Naruto countered. "I'm not you."

Sasuke glared at Naruto's back for his quick mouth, and then stood himself. He walked up next to him and started to go over the poster as well. Naruto spared a glance at Sasuke, a little curious as to what he was doing. Naruto himself was trying to find a distraction so he wouldn't flip out and tell Sasuke to talk to him about what in the hell happened and stop being a jackass.

"It was just awkward..." Sasuke said dully. "Going to my parents and offering up what little I had – my freedom, for what I needed – which would be you...was very awkward."

"Don't let me keep you from squirming in discomfort. I need a laugh now and then." Naruto joked.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and crossed his arms defensively over his chest.

"I told them I'd give up living in that apartment, working that waiting job, and going to school for becoming a teacher. I would give up my freedom, my so-called "hopes and dreams" and I actually asked for help." Sasuke paused, and then muttered under his breath. "I would give it all up...all of it."

Naruto thought he was burning a hole in the side of Sasuke's face by staring at it so intently, but he was just taken back and shocked. Sasuke was set in his ways, as that was apparent by leaving home and cutting out his family to do what he wanted. Someone was willing to give all of that up for him. Sasuke, none the less, was that someone.

"Uh..." Naruto faltered. "Thank you...?"

Sasuke turned to him and eyebrow raised and an amused smirk played on his lips. Naruto now looked flustered while he rubbed the back of his head. Sasuke looked back to the poster, it seemed that small distraction was making talking easier.

"I didn't mean it like that...it's just, you know. Its kinda flattering and it being you and all, you know Mr. Selfish Bastard, its pretty overwhelming."

"I'll work on taking that as a complement." Sasuke gave a little snort of a laugh.

Naruto let out a few chuckles in relief. He shook his head, smiling. "I guess I also feel a little bad...that you had to go through all of that because I was an asshole."

"Well said." Sasuke muttered.

Naruto pursed his lips, and Sasuke looked to the blond waiting for the rest of his story as well. Naruto froze up.

"When I went to my parents, I told them nearly everything." Sasuke continued suddenly. "I spared some of the more personal details, but I told them everything. How annoying you were. How bad your cooking is. How much you drove me insane. How much you smiled. How much you liked snow...and orange, sports and sweets. How you were open to new things, and dragged me down with you. I told them about how much you laughed and joked. I touched on how you're absolutely curious about everything. I told them how I fell for you, of all people. Then I told them how you left."

Naruto felt his heart speed up through Sasuke's entire speech. He felt it flutter and jump. He tried to control the butterflies assaulting his stomach. Then he watched Sasuke's face barely fall, and he let out the last sentence. Naruto finally opened his big mouth and stopped holding things back.

"I'm sorry, I really am. You know I am because if I wasn't, I wouldn't be here. But I had no idea you could even think of returning what I had been feeling. I didn't even know my parents still loved me at that point. I thought that if I just left, you could return to your life and I wouldn't be here ruining it anymore. But I couldn't stay away...and leaving the company or not, I was coming back. Sooner or later, I was coming. You practically haunted me. If I had to run forever and screw over my parents, as long as I could have you. Just you. Only you."

Any smart comment Sasuke had intended on making, his voice was silenced. He knew Naruto was the one out of the two of them to be more open when sharing their feelings even though he finally spilled his, but even this was more than Sasuke's expectations.

"And I don't want to leave..." Naruto admitted, finally turning away from the poster. "If I were to be completely honest, that thought scares me."

Sasuke turned towards him as well, one eyebrow raised. "Why? We'll still see each other."

"That's the thing, how in the hell do you know? When will we have time? You have school and work and hopefully I'll be doing the same thing. Who's to say that we're going to still be talking after I leave."

"You're panicking." Sasuke pointed out in a dull voice.

"No shit." Naruto deadpanned.

"You're being irrational."

"My ass."

"Calm down." Sasuke sighed,, his voice still monotone.

"You aren't worried about this?" Naruto asked, his voice letting on to a bit of an hysterical tone.

"No."

Naruto paused, before glaring at Sasuke for all his worth. The blond had a sudden sense that the person in front of him suddenly didn't care. Then he found out they hadn't made a connection and what was done, was simply done.

Sasuke reached forward and pulled back the bangs that usually hung in front of Naruto's face, and pushed them back, making Naruto's eyes soften.

"You know, you look like you're going to puke when you glare." Sasuke commented offhandedly, causing Naruto to roll his eyes. "But Naruto, there isn't any reason to worry. So calm the fuck down and stop your bitching."

Naruto laughed a little at Sasuke's tone as he said this. It wasn't annoyed like he would usually sound saying something of the sort. It was dead and almost bored. He reached up and grabbed Sasuke's forearm with his hand and gave a little smile.

"Alright, alright. I'll work on it, okay? Doubt is a bitch, so cut me some slack."

"What are you doubting?" Sasuke asked, almost sounding patient.

"I mean, you know...important crap." Naruto muttered.

"Because of how this week has been?" He made it sound like the most obvious thing in the world.

Naruto sighed. "Why bothering talking when you can read my mind?"

Sasuke slid his hand through the rest of Naruto's hair till he grabbed the back of his head and pulled him forward. The blond tripped a little and knocked into Sasuke a bit, who barely took a step back to hold their balance.

Their lips connected for the first time since they had their reunion. It felt more consumed with need and want than before. They had been so close, but so far apart with their time together recently.

Naruto had his arms wrapped around Sasuke, his hands grasping the back of his shirt like some clingy girl who thought she was in some romance film. Naruto wanted to roll his eyes and release his grip, but he couldn't. He didn't want to let go of Sasuke.

The blond pulled back a little and barely bowed his head, finding soft lips planting themselves gently against his forehead. It was so gentle he thought, that perhaps for one second, he had lost himself in a dream. Then he felt Sasuke's hand come to the side of his neck and gently rested it there in a loose hold.

Sasuke's lips moved against Naruto's forehead, "You have nothing to worry about."

Naruto knew that Sasuke was telling him everything he wanted to hear in one short sentence. The blond knew that he had pushed every single ounce of luck he had tonight. Sasuke had said enough for a lifetime, and he wasn't about to spill his guts all over again. Naruto knew Sasuke was inclining that he had nothing to worry about as long as he himself didn't plan to give up. There was a relieved sigh that escaped Naruto's lips, as if their closeness had stomped out some of the worry he had. Sasuke, on the other hand, wanted to destroy any doubt his counterpart thought about for even a second.

"I love you." Sasuke paused for a moment, and Naruto wondered if it was for the shock value, but knew it was to make sure the blond heard him loud and clear. Though Naruto of course, was making sure his ears hadn't played any cruel tricks on him.

"I love you, too." The blond finally mustered out through the surprise.

"So why are you worried?"

"Because you hadn't said it yet." He pointed out quickly. "And I don't know how the something we have going could keep up to snuff if only one person was feeling like this."

"You have to be the most idiotic person I know." Sasuke replied dully.

Naruto shot him a foul and sour look, managing to smack him upside the head in the process. Sasuke glared in return before he decided he would have to get used to spelling everything out for this man.

"What I _meant_ was that you have to be..._different_ to think I didn't feel anything. Just because I hadn't said it out loud till now. That doesn't mean I had some regret for telling you that you were the first person I ever fell in love with."

Naruto pursed his lips and shook his head. His thoughts were easy to read he supposed. Especially when that thought of Sasuke's regret would seep through and he'd act differently.

Naruto connected their lips in a chaste kiss before smiling lightly. "It will work because we love each other."

"Finally." Sasuke breathed out, knowing Naruto now understood. The blond laughed in response, causing Sasuke to smirk at him.

Naruto let loose of Sasuke as his eyes lit up, and Sasuke dropped his hands to let the blond go. "I actually felt pretty bad for forgetting, but I still have your Christmas present."

Sasuke lifted a sole eyebrow. "I thought you had been kidding about that."

Naruto turned to give him an indignant look, grabbing his coat that was lying on the end of the bed. He yanked out the present. Sasuke was actually tempted to laugh when he saw it was wrapped in tinfoil.

Naruto was shrugging as he handed it over. "It was all we had. My mom used up everything."

Sasuke took the gift, looking at Naruto like he expected him to open it. The blond rolled his eyes. "Just open it. Its not much, but it made me think of you."

Sasuke peeled away the foil, his bangs covering his face and the small smile. It wasn't that Naruto's complement inflated his ego, but it was nice to know he had been thought about. It was nice to relieve all those nights and days where he was convinced Naruto didn't give him a passing thought.

Within a moment Sasuke found in his hand a book. One that barely caught him by surprise, but one that had him looking at Naruto nonetheless.

"_A Guide to Teaching Music_?" Sasuke smirked. "Was it that obvious?"

Naruto smiled brightly, excited to see the small telltale signs that Sasuke enjoyed the gift. "Maybe not to everyone, but I was your first student. So of course it was obvious."

Sasuke took a few steps forward and kissed Naruto again, the corner of the blond's lips pulling into a smile. It was an enjoyable thing to freely be close like this without awkward doubt lingering in the background.

With Sasuke's free hand, he wrapped his arm around Naruto, dipping his fingertips into the fabric of his shirt. He moved his hand upwards slowly, directly up his spine, not noticing the spark in his touch. Naruto shivered at the feel, his hands coming forward to find some grounding with Sasuke. The blond pulled back, searching for his breath in pants. Sasuke still had that low key way to take it away in one kiss.

Naruto smiled a bit, "I take it you like the book."

Sasuke lips pressed against his temple before the two separated, and Sasuke walked around the blond. Naruto couldn't help the frown that suddenly plagued his lips. It wasn't like he was going to beg Sasuke to take him now, but he wasn't exactly thrilled when they made some sort of contact, and Sasuke immediately shut it down. It made him feel like the distance between them had yet to be fully crossed. There wasn't any harm in contact. In closeness. Then he remembered he was dealing with Sasuke Uchiha, and there was a problem with _everything_.

"So, do your parents do anything special when the ball drops?" Naruto asked, eyeing the clock. They only had a couple hours to go.

"This is the first time in a long time they're staying up till midnight. I saw champagne in the kitchen, so they'll most likely doing a toast when the ball drops."

"Well then, let's go end this year right!" Naruto practically yelled, making Sasuke look at him as if he'd lost his mind.

The two of them joined their families downstairs. They had already gotten into the champagne. Minato was irrationally challenging Fugaku to absolutely anything possible. Naruto only joined in when they had a food eating contest. Sasuke shut down the group at trivia even though Itachi nearly won. Before they knew it, after getting caught up in such pointless fun, Itachi was turning the television on. There was only two minutes left.

Naruto turned to Sasuke and smiled. "What's your resolution?"

Sasuke looked over his smiling face for a moment, flicking and dancing around to study it. "I...I don't have one."

Naruto frowned. "What kind of fun is that?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I just don't need it."

The blond considered this for a moment while he watched his mom pass out new glasses of the golden bubbly liquid, eyeing the countdown clock. He turned back to Sasuke and smiled tenderly.

"It is pretty perfect, isn't it?"

"TEN!" Minato and Kushina yelled together, urging the Uchiha's to do it as well.

Everyone finally chimed in together. "Three...two...one! HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other when the ball dropped, their parents werensharing their first kisses and Itachi dodged a joking Minato. Something still felt weird when they tried to be affectionate in front of their parents.

Sasuke turned to his mother who was giggling together with Kushina, obviously enjoying a bit too much of the bubbly. "Mother, Naruto and I are going to turn in."

Kushina gave the boys a look. "You young kids these days, can't even enjoy yourselves."

"I know mom, going to bed at normal hours is _so_ last year."

She rolled her eyes at her son and patted his cheek. "Sleep well, sweetheart, and happy New Year."

Mikoto smiled at her youngest son. "Happy New Year, dear."

The two boys bid goodnight to their parents, and momentarily cheered on the two fathers sitting on Itachi as he was pinned to the floor.

The two left the room and made their way up the stairs, still hearing Minato cheering on Fugaku loudly. He kept hearing his mother and Sasuke's mom singing some random song. It was a wonderful New Years.

He found himself pushed against a wall as soon as they reached the top of the stairs, out of sight and ear shot. Naruto eagerly welcomed his New Years kiss as he tied his arms around Sasuke's neck and pulled him closer to him. Sasuke grabbed at him and tugged their bodies together as their lips melted against the other. Sasuke lips parted from Naruto's, and the blond's lips curled into a smile against his partner's.

"Happy New Year." Naruto chuckled.

Sasuke smirked, rolling his eyes. "Happy New Year."

Naruto moved his head just right to connect their lips again, pulling back and kissing him again. A minute full of chaste kisses.  
Naruto felt their lips mold together at their last kiss, and his eyes ripped open when Sasuke's tongue swiped across his lower lip. The blond nipped at Sasuke's lower lip quickly and gently before he allowed Sasuke access to his mouth. His hands dug into Sasuke's hair when his tongue began to invade his mouth. Their tongues languidly danced sensually together, tasting each other. Naruto moaned lightly into Sasuke's mouth and he pulled back. Naruto frowned.

Sasuke grabbed his hand and yanked him off the wall, Naruto grunting and tripping over his feet. He was dragged down the hallway to Sasuke room, and the door was nearly kicked open and shut. Naruto slid the lock on the door when Sasuke pinned him against the door and hungrily devoured his mouth.

Sasuke and Naruto both had the same train of thought that early morning hour, and that was that indeed, this was the best way to celebrate.

The plan was for them to stay a whole week more, but now that the streets were cleared and the

holidays were over, lives had to go back into full swing. Sasuke had work and school to get back to, his parents and brother had work, and so did Kushina. Minato was planning to job hunt with a passion.

"I'll call you when I stop for gas." Naruto promised to Sasuke.

He was back in his own clothes, freshly clean and ready for his long car ride back home. This time at least, he'd be able to stop and rest. He wasn't entirely happy about driving back by himself, but he was thankful he wasn't riding with his parents.

"Sorry it wasn't dinner." The blond told the Uchiha's.

Mikoto smiled warmly at him. "A homemade breakfast was just as wonderful."

It could easily be described as "controlled chaos" when Sasuke and Naruto took to the kitchen that morning. It was more along the lines of a last minute thing since everyone was parting so soon, and  
Naruto wanted it to end on a good note. And they owed everyone dinner. Regardless that it took twice as long to clean as it did to cook, everyone had a nice time together.

So now Naruto and his parents stood at the doorway while everyone said goodbye. He was doing his best to not show how upset he was. He and Sasuke never talked about the next time they'd see each other. It worried him to think how long it could possibly be till they saw one another again.

"Don't speed on the roads, they still aren't in the best conditions." Sasuke reminded, handing over a hat to Naruto.

He shoved it on his blond crown and glared Sasuke down. All of his crap had no color.

"I'll work on buying clothes with color." Sasuke rolled his eyes on top of it.

"Your first class is tomorrow." Naruto reminded him.

"Don't wear stupid clothes to job interviews." Sasuke returned.

"Alright boys, it's time to go." Kushina broke, turning to hug Mikoto. Minato was tempted to elbow Fugaku in the stomach for a laugh, but settled on a handshake.

Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other for a moment, then glanced at their parents. It was still an iffy thing to show affection in front of anyone let alone their parents. Luckily, Kushina and Mikoto caught on like any mother.

"Come on, you three help with the bags."

Itachi, Fugaku and Minato turned to look at the pile of shopping bags that hadn't been thrown out, and was now the makeshift luggage. Three sets of shoulders sagged before the men set to work. Trying not to grunt and show their weakness as they hauled the bags out, Naruto smiled towards his mom who winked as she went out the door telling the men to hustle.  
Naruto turned back to Sasuke as Itachi was kicking Minato out the door, making him move faster.

"We'll see each other soon, so stop worrying." Sasuke said immediately, giving him a dull look. Naruto scowled.

"If I have to fly down there every weekend, I'll do it." Sasuke promised. "Just...stay happy or something..."

Naruto snorted in his face at the sad attempt of Sasuke being sweet. Good try, he thought, and he was at least attempting.

Sasuke leaned in for a kiss, their lips lingering together for a long moment before they pulled back. Naruto nibbled on his lip a little before he put his arms around Sasuke's shoulders gently and leaned into him as Sasuke's arms came around him. Sasuke's lips ghosted Naruto's ear, the words tickling his stomach.

"I love you."

Naruto smiled, his cheek resting against Sasuke's. "I love you, too."

"Blackmail, blackmail, blackmail."

The two broke apart to find Itachi leaning in the doorway, his cell phone out, and no doubt pictures having been taken. Sasuke looked murderous, Naruto couldn't stop laughing.  
Naruto gave Itachi a high five as he walked by the pair, and Sasuke slapped Naruto upside the head for siding with him.

Naruto started walking away from Sasuke, one hand trailing down Sasuke's arm and grabbing at his hand. He shook his arm vigorously with a smile and Sasuke rolled his eyes before tugging Naruto back for one more kiss.

"Soon." Sasuke promised as Naruto walked out the door, waving without his usual enthusiasm. "I promise."

* * *

Shikamaru felt like his part with Naruto and Sasuke had been done long ago. He finally got his best friend something in his life to make him less of a prick. But, as Naruto left and Sasuke returned back to their home, Shikamaru realized he indeed wasn't done. This wasn't good enough. To have someone you couldn't have. It had to be painful and frustrating. Naruto might only be a phone call away, but miles and miles were behind that as well. When he called Temari, it was only a five minute drive at best.

He sighed as he grabbed his phone from his nightstand and made a call he wasn't so sure he was ready to make.

"Temari?" He paused, he could tell she was smiling when she answered with his name. "I think we need to talk."

He ignored the jokes she shot at him about being sociable even with her, he calmly got up and shut his bedroom door, and hoped to hell this would work.

* * *

It was the fourth now. Sasuke and Naruto talked in the morning and at night. Before Sasuke left for school, and when he came home from work. It felt like there was an entire world separating them, Naruto thought.

But today, today was different.

Naruto let out a nervous sigh as he put the phone to his ear, eager to talk to Sasuke and spring his surprise. He was honestly shocked when his partner picked up the phone. He must have just gotten out of class.

"Naruto?" He was practically shouting, the noise in the background was overwhelming. "What's wrong?"

It was agreed that since Sasuke was so busy that Naruto wouldn't call during the day unless it was an emergency. He winced, forgetting that promise.

"Nothing. I just need to talk to you."

He heard Sasuke growl, not knowing it was from annoyance caused by him or the background noise. "I'm running late for work here."

Naruto rolled his eyes. He already called Tsunade, and what an interesting conversation _that_ was. "I get that, but I really need you right now."

Sasuke paused, "I thought you said nothing was wrong."

"Okay, so I lied a little. I'm kinda stranded here, Sasuke."

There was another pause, and Sasuke made a nearly disgusted face. "Stranded as in you need a ride?"

"Yeah."

"What in the hell do you want me to do about it, Naruto? Do you know how long that drive takes?"

Despite wanting to remind him that he indeed knew what each and every second felt like, he simply rolled his eyes.

"Just come and pick me up jackass, I'll text you the address."

Sasuke went to call him every foul word under the sun that had any relation to "stupid", but realized Naruto had hung up. He grit his teeth and refused to yell.

He glanced at his phone when it vibrated from the freshly received text message and glared at it quickly before beginning his walk to his car. He stopped in his tracks for a moment and double check the address on his phone. He ran through the crowd straight for his car.

* * *

Naruto was sitting in the back of the parking lot waiting impatiently. His heart was slamming in his chest, and his nerves began to cause his hands to shake. This might not have been the best idea in the world. It was a big, unknown step. But when he saw Sasuke's car whip into the parking lot, slow for a moment before turning to him, it didn't matter much anymore.

Sauske shoved his car in park and got out of the car, looking Naruto up and down as if making sure he was real.

"How in the hell...?"

The last place on this earth Sasuke expected to see Naruto at again after they parted was the community college he had been enrolled in during his stay with Sasuke. With five large things of luggage no less.

Naruto smiled, reaching a hand out and letting Sasuke take it. He gave the blond a side-ways look, silently questioning what he was up to.

"Shikamaru had informed me you haven't talk to him in days."

Sasuke shrugged, a bit lost for words.

"Well, that's great cause the surprise wasn't ruined."

"What surprise, Naruto?"

The blond smiled happily, it reaching his eyes. "Shikamaru moved in with Temari, and coincidentally, was looking for a new roommate for you. He called and asked me if I'd like to take the spot. I know its a big step and all, but..."

Naruto was silenced by Sasuke's lips pressed against his passionately. It caused Naruto to flush lightly before bringing his fingers to rake through his hair.

The blond pulled back, talking against Sasuke's lips. "I did late enrollment, and Shikamaru even got me a job down the street from the apartment. By the way, you have work off today to help me move in."

"What about your parents?"

The blond gave him a smile. "They're looking at houses just outside of the city in that nice suburban development."

Sasuke laughed causing Naruto to smile.

They kissed each other again, Naruto's lips still tugging upward and unable to fall.

Sasuke pulled back, grabbing his face and tilting it down. He placed a gentle kiss on a tan forehead.

"Ready to go home, Naruto?"

"Dumbest question out of your mouth yet, Sasuke."

* * *

Author's Note:This will be labeled complete even though I still need to post the Epi. If I can keep this up, it will be posted tomorrow. Thanks! Read, review, and I really hope you enjoyed.


	21. Epilogue: From Rented to Owned

Epilogue: From Rented to Owned

Author's Notes: I bring you to the very end of this fiction. Another long road, and another fiction completed. I thank you all for your patience, your understanding (concerning the lemons) and your wonderful and sweet reviews. I'm happy you all enjoyed another one of my crazy fictions.  
*I do _not_ know how long it will be till another fiction update as I need to get reacquainted with them. But something _will_ be updated.

Also: So, I messed up a bit, or a lot, whatever. Everyone who asked me for adds on LJ, I managed to delete _everything_. Sorry! If you guys still want me to add you, please just, request again and I'll stop having wondering fingers.

Warning/Disclaimer: Maybe a few foul words, but its fluffy as perusal with my Epi's. I still don't own Naruto, but the future is still out there and things can change.

Epilogue: From Rented to Owned

* * *

_Five Years Later_...

Naruto sighed heavily, kicking the front door shut behind him. It had been a long day. It was the first day of his new class, and the preschoolers were all ready for their first taste of school. Last year, Naruto remembered like it was yesterday. He had no idea what he was doing or how to do it, this year he was prepared. He handed out chocolate to each kid, put out the paint for finger painting and threw on cover clothes and said a prayer. Regardless of trying to explain to three parents as to why their children had blue hair, it went rather well. The tiring part was trying to get every ounce of paint cleaned up. How had the paint gotten in the toilet in the restroom?

"Bastard, I'm home!" Naruto called through the small house. He faintly heard some sort of recognition in the form of a grunt. He followed the sound of clicking keys.

He turned to find Sasuke in their living room in the corner, sitting at his desk. Two computer monitors were glaring him in the face and he was glaring right back.

"You alright?" The blond called, eyeing his partner.

Sasuke turned away from the screen, his trademark eyebrow raising curiously. "You look like a clown threw up Skittles all over you. Did you give them sugar again?"

Naruto laughed, remembering he was covered in blotches of paint. He remembered the small red hand print on his forehead. "I give it to them at the start of the day, that way when nap time rolls around, they sleep like angels. Then their parents pick them up just as they get up. I got this."

Sasuke sighed, "The new studio we opened...seems my mother got a hold of the contractors and changed the layout inside. There is pink everywhere and now that she changed the layout so much, we don't have room for the instruments for rent."

Naruto laughed, "Well, maybe it will bring in more female students. At the other three lesson studios, there are only four girl students total, and I think they were all forced. Just send Itachi over there with my dad and Kakshi and they'll have it back to new."

Sasuke glared at Naruto. "When we put up the first studio, the three of them managed to destroy an entire wall and then I had to help my father repair it."

Naruto winked at him. "Come on, you looked sexy all sweaty and irritable."

"Did I throw a hammer at you that day?" Sasuke pondered out loud.

"Yeah." Naruto bit. "That wasn't exactly sexy. But having the bed all to myself for two weeks was epic. As well as your make-up gift."

Naruto still remembered coming home from finals week in a tired and bitter mood to find a brand new home entertainment system sitting in the living room. There was even a brand spankin' new video game console, too. Naruto practically escorted Sasuke back to their shared bedroom before dashing down the stairs to enjoy his new goodies.

"Oh, my mom said they're doing the dinner tonight instead of Friday like usual. Apparently they're all four going to some play. Damn thing has to be good if your father agreed to go."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. It was true, but he wasn't going to say anything bad.

"Oh yeah, word on the street is your brother is dating." Naruto wiggled his eyebrows and laughed. "That poor soul."

"I didn't hear about that."

"Listen more closely." Naruto pushed.

"I don't want to hear the word on the street."

Naruto threw his head back and shook his head. "Its a saying, Sasuke. I heard it from your mom, alright."

"She didn't tell me..." Sasuke noted.

"Well duh, I'm the favorite."

"I picked up the tuxes today." Sasuke remembered. "You have to make sure they fit."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I get it, I get it."

"You didn't get it last time." Sasuke reminded.

"I think Kiba enjoyed my high water pants at his wedding."

Sasuke gave Naruto a look, and the blond threw his hands up. "I know! Temari will kill me and we don't want an angry bride. Check."

Naruto was about to sigh against the wall before he remembered he'd probably stain it. He walked over to Sasuke and sloppily and tiredly leaned over him. It made him laugh. Naruto always felt like his day was complete if he could make Sasuke laugh.

"I don't want to go to dinner tonight." Naruto whined, making Sasuke rolled his eyes. He brought his arms up to wrap around him, and felt paint collide with them. He didn't want to know how it wasn't dry yet and he didn't want to see the inside of that idiots car.

"Why don't you want to go?"

Naruto pulled back and proceeded to get comfortable and he made his way into Sasuke's lap like a attention hungry cat.

"Think about it!" Sasuke grunted when Naruto dropped down a little unceremoniously in his lap. "Itachi might be bringing his new special friend over tonight. I mean, what if its that friend of his Kisame?"

"I doubt it." Sasuke tried to reassure, but it was a possibility.

"We really need to face the fact that your dad might flip his ever loving mind if you brother comes home with another guy."

"My parents did fine, and so did yours..."

Naruto looked at him and shook his head. "Sasuke, I'm an only child. My parents had to come to the conclusion when they decided it was just going to be me that I was going to fuck their life plans up one way or another. Plus, the fact that my parents are far more lax than yours plays into this more, they aren't the ones pushing the family name to continue."

Sasuke shrugged. He already knew that, but he could care less. He was sorta hoping dinner would go south so they could just come home.

"Oh, Kakashi and Iruka are coming this weekend. Se we really need to leave the country."

He watched Sasuke's face form into something akin to a grimace and deep hate. He still couldn't stand Kakashi, and Kakashi still loved harassing him.

Naruto phone rang and he rolled his eyes, pulling it out from his back pocket. Sasuke glared at him and Naruto waved him off. He understands that's how he broke the last two phones because he sat on them.

Naruto glanced at the caller ID before huffing and tossing the phone on Sasuke's desk, who gave him a curious look.

"Remember how you had that really kick ass student? The one whose band got that indie contract?"

Sasuke nodded, remembering the sense of pride that brought him.

"Remember his crazy stalking mother?"

Sasuke sighed, remembering the sense of annoyance that brought him.

"I got one now, too." Naruto sighed.

"I thought you used my last name and your last name at school."

Naruto snorted, "Do you know how hard it is for kids to pronounce "Uchiha-Uzumaki"? They usually call me Mr. Double-U."

"Well..." Sasuke smirked, making Naruto frown. "You can just go by Mr. Uchiha. Then I can come in and tell her that that's _my_ name you took and you are_ mine_."

Naruto sighed, leaning forward and giving Sasuke a quick kiss on the lips. "Your possessive factor still needs to step down a few notches."

Sasuke looked at him curiously. "You came into my studio when that mother was there, shoved your damn tongue down my throat and then proudly announced to her that I was yours. Please tell me how I need to take it down?"

Naruto laughed at him as he slid off his lap, turned to head up the stairs and shower to get ready for dinner. "Because you're so damn determined to slap that Uchiha name on me, I'm surprised I have yet to be branded. Talk about owning me, Sasuke."

"Branding, huh?" Sasuke asked aloud, receiving Naruto face slapped across the room onto his face. He pulled the shit off his face, chuckling slightly.

Sasuke jumped up from his chair when he saw Naruto bend down to rip off a shoe and wrapped his arms firmly around him. Naruto was half laughing, half murderous.

"I'll brand you, you asshole!" Naruto smacked him in the back, Sasuke knowing damn well there would be a mark.

Sasuke kissed his cheek with a smirk. Naruto turned his face, though his arms were mostly still trapped, and glared even worse than Sasuke. It was only cute because he had been practicing so hard.

"I can always brand you the _right_ way." Sasuke said suggestively, beginning to nibble on Naruto's ear.

The blond snorted. "I thought the cheesy sex lines were my department?"

"Then we can role-play."

Naruto laughed louder, kissing Sasuke's cheek. "This inner pervert of yours is relentless."

Sasuke shrugged, one hand trailed down Naruto's back till it rested on his ass, fondling it lightly. The blond laughed so hard he actually hit his head on the wall when it was thrown back from the force. He leaned forward and stole Sasuke's lips in a kiss before wiggling his way out of the death hold. He shoved him in the chest and turned towards the stairs. Naruto began racing up them, calling after Sasuke.

"Come on, bastard, we don't have all the time in the world!" His feet landing with heavy thuds.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and began his own speedy climb, calling after him. "Contrary to popular belief, moron, we actually do."

Sasuke was hit with a surprise tackle at the top of the stairs, knocking him sideways with a bang. Naruto was laughing on top of him.

Sasuke wiggled and adjusted himself under Naruto. He ran his hands up under his undershirt that he still wore and began to trace invisible shapes on the smooth bronzed skin.

"All the time in the world, with just us, huh?"

Sasuke nodded, his hair rubbing against the carpet.

Naruto smiled, accepting the kiss Sasuke planted on his lips. "This whole owning opposed to renting thing isn't all that bad then."

Sasuke smirked, slapping his ass softly and rolling the two of them over. "Now let's get to that branding, shall we?"

Naruto scowled when Sasuke laughed in his face and ignored the punch to the ribs. He jumped up, trying to make a dash for the bathroom but Naruto grabbed his ankle and brought him right back down. The blond quickly rolled over himself and crawled to Sasuke who was chuckling, backing up to try and avoid him. He backed into the tub then, and Naruto caught up to him. Naruto went up on his knees and raised his hands in what looked to be retaliation. Sasuke grabbed his wrists and pulled him down, their chest colliding with a few shared groans. The blond finally relented in his attack and rested against Sasuke's, his arms coming around to around Naruto in a peace agreement. The blond felt a small kiss to his neck, and pulled back to face Sasuke, who then kissed his lips. Naruto smiled into that kiss.

"I love you." He managed to muffle out.

"Love you, too." Sasuke responded, kicking the bathroom door shut.

Sasuke still had to make sure that random woman realized Naruto was taken, after all.

* * *

Author's Note: Done, done and done! Rented to Be is now absolutely finished! Hope you all enjoyed till the last drop!


End file.
